A God's Game
by celadonserpent
Summary: A mother's hidden heritage, a child's fated destiny, a god's merciless game... The true enemy is not Hell, but Heaven itself.
1. A Mother's Sorrow, A Child's Fairy Tale

A God's Game

Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha were used without permission and belong to their respective owners. The story was written purely for enjoyment, and no money was made off from this story. Translations of names and such were taken from Chris Rijk's Inuyasha: Sengoku o-Togi Zoushi at . 

Author's Note: This is a mix of everything I know about the supernatural, gods, myths, etc. Just telling you that it's not based solely on Japanese culture.

The legend of Kaguya-Hime (Taketori Monogatari) may be found at . 

In this story, Kikyo is still alive. If you've been keeping up with the manga, then you know that she's dead. (Although I don't think she's dead. Then again, you're talking to a person who thought that Dumbledore was evil in the Sorcerer's Stone.) This story takes place after Ryuukotsusei, but before the events of Mount Hiei.

I think this is going to be one of my long stories. I hope you don't mind.

Chapter I: A Mother's Sorrow, A Child's Fairy Tale

            In the autumn of a child's fifth year, the winds were especially cold and harsh, whipping what leaves remaining on the trees down. The once acclaimed beauty of the earth had all but decayed, leaving a barren, unforgiving land of desolation behind. The coming winter would be a hard one, leaving many dead, and one child who wished he were dead, but could never die…

A woman hid herself and her child far from the view of their pursuers. She relied on the cloak of the forest to shelter them, to hide them from those that she had once known.

The son she held in her arms started to shiver, and the woman held him closer, hoping to protect him from the harsh elements. She felt his silky soft hair beneath her fingers and wondered if it was going to be the last time she would ever touch her son's hair like this. She knew that the soldiers were coming to find her, and she knew that her capture was inevitable. She just wished that she could delay the absolute a bit longer. Just until her son grew up…

"Hime-sama!" she heard someone shout. The voice was close, and she knew that she had to move again. She gently shook her son awake, and the child, with an uncanny gift of understanding comprehended their situation and followed his mother silently. 

She did not know whether to be thankful or resentful about her son. She loved him—that much she knew, and that itself was a momentous gain from where she came from. But in a situation like this one, she wished that she did not love him so. If she did not love him, then perhaps their parting would have been easier on her.

She wished she could resent the presence of her son, but as always, she was selfish, and instead of convincing herself that she hated her son and leaving him to the care of her parents, she had brought him with her. He would have to suffer with her, and she loathed herself for it, but part of her was glad that she could be with her son in these last moments of her time in the mortal realm.

Her son was leading her through the woods. He had inherited much from her: his sense of direction in a forest, his kindness (though she had to admit that his father had been kind to her) and his raven dark hair and lavender eyes, though the latter was not noticed most of the time.

"Hime-sama!"

"Kaguya-hime!"

She picked her son up and started carrying him. He may have been a good guide in a forest, but she was even better. After all, she had been "born" in these very woods.

She could feel her son's small fingers holding on to her as she started to run, trying to keep the noise she made at a minimum. She wished that she had been better prepared and had changed her clothes from the elaborate kimono she was now wearing to a simpler garb.

She did not know whether to thank the heavens for coming to retrieve her on the night of a new moon, or to curse them for coming when both she and her son were most vulnerable. The new moon shed only its light of darkness upon the two, and within its cushion of safety did she move swiftly, hoping against hope that she would be able to escape the fate that was to befall her and her freedom.

She plunged into a clearing of the forest, and suddenly, fires from the celestial flames lit the clearing up, revealing the grove to be filled with two hundred soldiers or so. The flames of the heavens chilled her heart, and she knew that there was no escape. She placed her son on the ground and stood up straight and tall. She would not allow her son to see her weak. She would not plant the seeds of weakness in him.

"Haha-ue…" he whispered, wondering what all the people were doing there.

"Kaguya-hime," a solder said, stepping forward. "By the Royal Decree of His Majesty, you are hereby sentenced to return to the heavens."

"Tell His Majesty that I have yet to complete my term in this realm," she said, her voice unwavering, sounding infinitely calm.

"Your term in this world has been waived. Please return with us at once, Hime-sama," the soldier said, starting to shift nervously.

"Don't cause the man any trouble," a deeper, older voice said. He stepped out from beneath the shadows of the trees and bowed mockingly at her.

"General," she acknowledged him. She pulled her son closer to her, afraid of the man's intentions.

"Please, Hime-sama, I do not mean to harm your…'son,'" he said malevolently. "Just come with us peacefully, and I'll make sure no harm comes to him."

She held her child closer to her, her expression becoming stony. She knew she was trapped. Whatever she chose to do, she would be taken.

"Ichiro," she said to the soldier who had spoken to her before. "Take my son back to my parents' home."

"Of course, Hime-sama," he said, bowing respectfully. He approached the child, who backed away from him fearfully.

"Go with Ichiro, my son," she said, bending down and giving her son one last kiss on his forehead. "Be a good boy and obey your mother."

"Where are you going?" he asked, his small voice shaking.

"I'm not going anywhere, dear," she said, mustering up the last of her strength and courage to smile at him. "Haha-ue will always watch over you."

"You promise?" he asked, "You promise not to go anywhere?"

"Yes…" she said, her eyes filling up with tears at her lie. "Now go with Ichiro." She watched in silence as the soldier took her son away from her. She knew that he would never again see her face, but she hoped that she could watch over him from the heavens.

"You're coming with us," the general said, shoving her roughly into a carriage. She wanted to fight him, to hurt him, but she had no power. In the end, she obeyed him like she had obeyed so many others before, as she was taught to obey. But it didn't feel right.

The carriage took off into the darkness of the night sky, and she heard a tiny voice calling her. She turned around and looked out of the carriage window, only to see her son running towards her, stumbling, tripping, but never ending in his determination.

"Haha-ue! Haha-ue!" he cried, running after the mother who had promised to stay.

She bit her lip. She should not answer. To answer would only bring more pain on to the both of them. She turned around and refused to look at her son, her tears flowing down from her face. It was better to make a clean cut, than linger painfully in her son's mind.

And because she believed so, because she turned around as she did, she did not see the lost, abandoned face of the son she loved with all her heart.

Years later, she would remember this night and wonder… Had she made the right decision?

            The group trailed behind stubborn Inuyasha, who refused to let them rest even though they had walked for the majority of the day. Kagome felt as if she was dragging a bucket of water using only her legs, and she was starting to get tired. But she refused to admit defeat to Inuyasha. __

_            Stupid, stupid Inuyasha,_ she thought, _Going on about how humans are weak… I'll show you weak! I won't stop walking before you do!_ She knew she was being unreasonable, but she was more stubborn than the hanyou before her, and she would drop dead before proving herself to be weak.

            "Inuyasha, I think it would do us some good if we were to take a short break," Miroku said, slightly out of breath. Kagome could feel the sweat trickling down her face under the beating of the hot summer sun. She looked over at Sango, who looked like she was starting to have some difficulty carrying the oversized boomerang.

            "Feh! Weak humans," Inuyasha grumbled, not even winded, but he stopped nonetheless. "Only a short break. We have to be out of these woods before nightfall."

            Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and Kirara collapsed in a heap on the ground, each tired from the day's trek. Kagome refused to rest, even though her limbs did feel like they would fall off at any minute. Inuyasha was still standing, and she was going to prove to him that not all humans were weak.

            "Oi. Why aren't you resting?" asked Inuyasha, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

            "Why should I rest if I'm not tired?" Kagome asked stubbornly, forcing what little air in her lungs out. _I will not look tired. I will not look tired, _she told herself.

            "Are you still going on about that?" Inuyasha asked, "Just because humans are physically weak compared to youkai doesn't mean anything at all."

            "It's not about that!" Kagome shouted, making her lose the precious air in her lungs. "It's just your attitude! Why do you insist on thinking poorly of humans? We have our strong points too, you know."

            "I didn't say that humans were inferior!" Inuyasha shouted back at her. "Stop putting words in my mouth!"

            "You said we were weak! That's not insulting humans?" asked Kagome, the summer heat causing her temper to be shorter than usual.

            "I said compared to youkai!" Inuyasha said, not even trying to control his temper. "A rock will always be inferior to a mountain!"

            "So you did say that humans are inferior," Kagome said.

            "Did not!"

            "Did too!"

            "Did not!"

            "Did too!"

            "Did not!"

            "Did not!"

            "Huh?" asked Inuyasha, confused.

            "Why didn't you fall for it?" asked Kagome, slightly disappointed that Inuyasha hadn't fallen for the age-old trick.

            "I'm going to scout around," Inuyasha said, turning away from her. "Don't be running off anywhere." With that, he disappeared into the thick foliage, his crimson clothes hidden in the dark green of the forest. When she was sure that Inuyasha was gone, she sat down on the forest floor, sighing partly in relief and partly in exasperation.

            "Kagome-sama, you should not irritate Inuyasha so," Miroku said wisely from his position, which Sango had made sure was far from her.

            "I can't help it," Kagome said irritably. "Every time it gets to the new moon, he acts this way. He gets all sulky and annoyed, AND starts noticing ALL the flaws in a human." Kagome was starting to shake in anger. "Why can't he just see the good sides of being human?"

            "Like what?" Shippou asked from his perch on top of Kirara. "Every time Inuyasha turns human, he always ends up in some mortal danger."

            "Kagome-chan, it would probably be safer for everyone if Inuyasha never turned human," Sango said reasonably. "In our type of mission, turning weak on any one day may cost us our lives."

            "Hey, you're human too," Kagome said, frowning stubbornly.

            "And if Inuyasha ever seriously fought me, I would probably be dead," Sango said, not without a slight hint of a grudge. Kagome knew that she hated admitting that she was weak "compared to a youkai," as Inuyasha so artfully put it.

            She started picking at the grass beneath her, refusing to argue with her friends about Inuyasha any longer. Humans _could_ be useful in a battle. She just had to prove how. Just because they weren't as strong, or as fast, or as agile didn't mean a thing. What mattered was the heart.

            _Yeah, right,_ Kagome thought to herself. _Even I don't believe that._

            A few moments later, a rustling was heard and Inuyasha reappeared again. He passed a critical eye over them, and decided that they had rested enough for the moment.

            "Let's get going," he said gruffly, his ears twitching nervously as a soft breeze blew across them. "I think a youkai hunts in the territory a little ways from here. We need to be out of here soon."

            Miroku heaved himself up, then walked over and offered a hand to help Sango. Sango took his hand cautiously, wondering what the sly monk was up to, but when he didn't try anything, she let down her guard. Almost immediately after, a slapping sound was heard, and Miroku had a neat handprint printed on his face.

            "Miroku-sama, you should really stop doing that," said Kagome, not even bothering to look over at the monk's direction.

            "But the way she moved… I thought she wanted me to," Miroku said, smiling innocently. He only succeeded in Kagome shaking her head in exasperation, and getting Sango angrier.

            "When will you ever learn?" asked Shippou, starting to follow Kirara, who had gone after Inuyasha. Kagome pushed herself off the ground and started to drag herself behind Inuyasha, grumbling all the way about a certain hanyou who was insensitive to a human's needs.

            _But I really can't blame him. The only reason he's rushing us is because he's afraid he won't be able to fully protect us after he changes,_ Kagome thought to herself. She had to admit, despite all his faults, she still found that the goodness of his heart was far greater than he wished to reveal. Sometimes she wondered how she could ever fall for someone like him. But usually, she didn't have to wonder too long.

            Night fell quickly, and as usual, Miroku had managed to secure them a room in one of the finest mansions in the area, leaving the girls happy, but slightly disturbed about his lie, and Inuyasha shaking his head. As usual, Inuyasha sat the farthest away from the group during these nights, making Kagome irritated with the distance that he insisted on putting between himself and the rest of the group.

            "I'm bored," Shippou said, tired of the silence in the room. "Miroku, how did you manage to get this room, anyway? You're not running around catching youkai or ghosts, so how did you get this room?"

            "Ah…" Miroku smiled mysteriously. "It seems that the princess of this castle is quite fond of me." He flinched visibly when Sango glared at him. "I was just kidding," he said, laughing nervously. "I just sealed this phantom that has been haunting the castle for some time."

            "Phantom?" asked Shippou, looking around him nervously and wondering when a ghost was going to come out and abduct his soul.

            "Don't worry, there's no phantom here," Miroku said. "It's all in the people's imagination. I didn't find any trace of such supernatural things when I was touring this castle."

            "Hmm…" Shippou said, still unconvinced. Kagome noticed the child looking around him nervously and decided to tell him a bedtime story to help him sleep.

            "Shippou-chan, I'll tell you a story, okay?" she asked. "It's a story for the autumn Moon Festival, but that's just a few weeks away, so I'll tell it to you right now."

            "Okay!" Shippou said eagerly. Kagome saw that Miroku and Sango were waiting for her to start her story, and the only person who didn't seem interested was Inuyasha. She decided to forgive him this time, and started the story.

            "It's starts with an old man and an old woman," Kagome said.

            "Why isn't it a young man and a young woman?" Shippou asked. "Or how about a kitsune?"

            "Just listen to the story, Shippou-chan," Kagome said patiently. "Anyway, the old man and woman were very poor and did not have any child of their own, though they really wanted one. But they accepted Heaven's Fate, and did not complain, always working hard and feeling content with themselves.

            "One day, the old man went to a nearby bamboo forest to cut some bamboo when all of a sudden, he discovered a child in one of the bamboo stalks that he had just cut. He picked the small girl up curiously, wondering where the beautiful child had come from. He decided that the heavens had finally smiled upon him and his wife, and decided to give them a child of their own."

            "What do you mean?" Shippou asked, "Is the girl a youkai in disguise?"

            "No!" Kagome said. "At least, I don't think so…"

            "Maybe she is," Shippou said.

            "Just let her continue on with her story," Miroku said. Suddenly, the door slid open, and an elegant lady walked in.

            "Miroku-sama," she said, bowing respectfully. "I am glad that we can meet again."

            Sango started shooting death glares at Miroku, who could only smile nervously in return.

            "Excuse me, but have you met Miroku-sama before?" asked Kagome, trying to remember her etiquette.

            "Yes. I met him some years ago, when he came to the castle I was currently staying in to rid the castle of the vengeful spirits that resided there," she said slowly and articulately.

            "Oh? Then why are you in this castle now?" asked Kagome.

            "I am a hostage here," the girl said as if though it were obvious.

            "What? A Hostage?" asked Kagome indignantly, jumping up from her seat. "How can anyone hold a hostage? That's inhumane!" The lady only laughed politely.

            "You are most entertaining," she said, smiling. "Miroku-sama, I had not known that you travel with a group now. Perhaps I can request more rooms for you and your companions?" she asked, looking at Miroku with something akin to adoration in her eyes. Kagome didn't understand why the girls fell for Miroku. Yeah, he was charming, and he wasn't that bad looking, but still! They should have more sense, although she knew she shouldn't talk.

            "You do not have to, Hime-sama," Miroku said. "We are fine as we are."

            "I thought you said you didn't know a princess here," Kagome said, sitting back down again.

            "I thought you said you were only here to seal a phantom," Sango said, giving him a cold look.

            "A phantom? There is a phantom here?" asked the princess.

            "Eh heh heh…" Miroku laughed nervously. "Don't scare away our hostess!" The others took the clue, and decided to say no more, lest they get kicked out of their room for being frauds.

            "Why don't you continue with your story, Kagome-sama?" asked Miroku politely. The princess turned towards Kagome, waiting for her to start. Kagome started to feel nervous.

            "Err… Where was I?" she asked.

            "The old fart found a baby youkai in the bamboo," Shippou said.

            "Oh yeah. Wait, no! The old man found a baby _girl_in the bamboo stalk. He didn't find a youkai," Kagome said.

            "A youkai is better," Shippou pouted.

            "It's a baby girl, though," Kagome said.

            "Please continue with this story, Kagome-sama," the princess said politely, smiling patiently at them.

            "Well, the old man took the child home to his wife. They were both very happy to have finally received a child, but they didn't have enough money to feed and clothe the child, so they instead starved themselves so that the baby could get enough to eat," Kagome said.

            "That's not fair!" Shippou exclaimed.

            "Just be patient," Kagome said, continuing. "One day, when the old man went to the forest to chop for bamboo again, he found a pile of money hidden in one of the bamboo stalks. He was surprised, and delighted that the heavens would help him so, and quickly took the money home to feed and support his family.

            "With the money that he received from the heavens, he soon built himself a magnificent house to live in, and raised the baby girl to be a wonderful, refined lady. There were many who wanted to court her, but she refused to marry. Finally, with the bidding of her mother, she decided to put those who sought her hand in marriage to a test." Kagome paused, unable to remember the names of the people who had been put to the test. "Well, anyway, she sent them on some quests. One of them was the quest to seek the jewel from the Dragon God, another was to find the pelt of a fire rat, another was to find some rare flower or something and…"

            She grinned nervously at her audience. "I'm sorry. I just can't seem to remember—"

            "Prince Ishizukuri was to bring the Buddha's begging bowl from India. Prince Kuramochi was to bring a jeweled branch back. And Councilor Isonokami was to bring a swallow's cowry shell," Inuyasha said. The rest of the group were shocked into silence.

            "You have a very good memory, sir," the princess said, impressed.

            "I've just heard this story too many times," he said, turning away from them again, his now raven black hair falling across his shoulders. Kagome hoped that the princess wouldn't be offended by Inuyasha's rudeness. She was slightly glad that Inuyasha had been listening to her story, not to mention surprised and impressed that he remembered more of it than her.__

_            Inuyasha's Okaa-san did at least tell him some stories before she left,_ Kagome thought to herself.

            "Please continue, Kagome-sama," Miroku said.

            "Oh! Of course," Kagome said. She looked over at Inuyasha who was still turned around. "Of course, Kaguya-hime—"

            "Who's that?" asked Shippou.

            "Oh, that's just the little girl's name," Kagome said, embarrassed that she had forgotten to mention the name of the main character. She wondered if she should just let Inuyasha tell the story, but he didn't seem to be in the mood.

            "Anyway, the requests that she made were impossible to complete, so of course—" Kagome started, but was cut off again.

            "Not impossible," Inuyasha said, his back still turned towards them. "Difficult, but not impossible."

            "Right…" Kagome said, not quite sure what the significance of that comment was. "The point is, the suitors failed, so Kaguya-hime did not end up marrying any of them.

            "But the emperor had heard grand rumors about her, so went to visit her one day, and fell in love with her beauty, as well as her intelligence. He tried to marry her, but with her wits and intellect, Kaguya-hime managed to convince him that she didn't want to marry him." Kagome saw that Inuyasha had finally turned around, but now he was frowning.

            "The emperor finally agreed not to marry her, but they still remained the best of friends. They would write letters to each other, and visit each other, but Kaguya-hime never married him.

            "One day, Kaguya-hime started to be depressed and it seemed like nothing in the world would cheer her up. Her parents asked what was wrong, but she refused to tell them, until one day, she finally told them the truth about her past.

            "She had been a Goddess living on the moon, and was sent down to earth as a punishment. She had been given to the old couple as a reward for leading such honest and good lives, but now her time was up, and she had to return to the heavens." Kagome saw that Inuyasha was still frowning, and she wondered why.

            "So what happened?" asked Shippou.

            "Her friend, the emperor, heard about this, so sent his army to guard and protect her from Heaven's envoys. But they could not fight the will of the Gods, so in the end, she had to leave. But before she left, she gave her father a gift of a pill of eternal life, and she also gave the emperor one last letter."

            "What did the letter say?" asked the princess, then apologized embarrassedly for interrupting.

            "Only the emperor knows its contents. The old man did not want to live forever, so gave the pill to the emperor, who had not wanted to live forever without Kaguya-hime, so he sent someone to burn the pill, as well as a letter he had written to Kaguya-hime in the depths of Fuji-san. And so, Kaguya-hime left the world," Kagome said. "The end."

            "That story doesn't sound right," Inuyasha said, turning away again.

            "Yeah. Why did she have to leave if she was happy here?" Shippou demanded.

            "Sometimes you are forced to leave for places that you do not desire," the princess said to Shippou. She didn't seem to have noticed that she was talking to a youkai yet.

            "That's still not fair," Shippou said, pouting.

            "Just shut up and go to sleep, brat," Inuyasha growled. Kagome had to resist pounding him on his head for being so rude in front of the princess.

            "It was a pleasure to listen to your story, Kagome-sama," the princess said, getting up. She suddenly walked over to Inuyasha and handed him something that she had taken out from her sleeve. "Though this may seem a strange request, please give this charm to my parents when you see them. They will have the same emblem on their clothes somewhere as the emblem on the charm."

            "Why would you ask me?" asked Inuyasha suspiciously.

            "I know it is forward of me to assume that you will do this favor for me, but you are the only person I have met that will pass my parents' scrutiny. Miroku-sama would not pass because he is a monk, and my family do not think highly of them," the princess said, bowing with embarrassment. "And I cannot ask a girl to do it, because they do not think highly of them either."

            "You're parents are rather picky," Inuyasha said. The princess laughed.

            "Yes, I suppose they are," she said. "But truly, sir, you are the only one who will pass their test. With your sword and your build, they will think you a warrior, and will allow you on their premises. It is then that you can give the charm to them."

            "Just do what the princess asks, Inuyasha," Miroku said.

            "Whatever," Inuyasha said, looking away.

            "Arigato gozaimasu," she said, bowing deeply, before leaving the charm near Inuyasha and retreating out of the room. "Good night," she said, and closed the door softly.

            Kagome turned around and was about to ask Inuyasha if he really was going to help the princess with a favor, but found that the charm was gone. No doubt he had already accepted her request.

            "Let's go to sleep, too," Shippou said, yawning loudly. Kagome laid herself on the bed, noticing that Inuyasha was still sitting there, looking outside to the sky as if he were looking at a moon that wasn't there.

            She was going to say "good night," but she was tired, and soon fell asleep.

**Author's Note: **Let's see how long I can go without cliffhangers…

Is it all right for me to assume that you know the Japanese terms, or do I need to provide poor translations of them?

And also, if you would like to be contacted whenever this story is updated, please leave your email in your review and indicate that you want to be contacted, otherwise I won't know. Or you can contact me at celadonserpent@yahoo.com.

All right, on to the next chapter!


	2. A Law Broken, An Oath Upheld

A God's Game Chapter II: A Law Broken, An Oath Upheld 

            She was brought to the Heavenly Judge to decide her fate. Thousands of gods and goddesses surrounded her, but she paid no heed to them. She barely listened to the judge as he explained her situation to her, already knowing what the outcome was going to be.

            "Do you plead guilty or innocent?" he asked, pitying the woman before him.

            "I am innocent, of course," she said calmly.

            "You do know that you have broken two of heaven's law, do you not?" the judge asked despairingly.

            "I have broken only one," she said sedately. "And I believe the Great Jade Emperor has already pardoned me for that."

            The judge shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He did not know how to respond to that. Technically, the emperor had pardoned her, but only so that they could bring her back and charge her for the second crime. However, she wasn't cooperating at all.

            "As a member of the Elite Heavenly Gods, you have broken the second law of the Heavens," he said, knowing what would become of the woman. "You have fallen in love."

            The crowd whispered among themselves, wondering how a respectable woman like she could have broken the second law of the Heavens. She had committed a high crime, and they wondered what her punishment would be. Some sympathized with her, while others, influenced by a certain malevolent god, believed that she deserved what she was about to get.

            "So I have," she said, her voice unwavering, eerie in its extreme serenity.

            "The Law of the Heavens hereby sentences you to eternal imprisonment in the Moon," he said, feeling as though he had made a grave mistake. "Is there anything you wish before you…go?" he asked. He did not forget that the woman who stood before him had once helped him when his life was in grave danger. He wished he could somehow aid her, bend the rules a little, but the law of the Heavens were final and he knew he could do nothing. Still, he wished that he might help her fulfill one last request. It would be the least that he could do.

            "There is nothing I wish that is within your power to grant," she said calmly. She sounded resolute, her face stony in lack of emotion, and she was led away by the guards, head held high, never regretting the "crime" that she had committed, never bending to the will of the Gods.

            "So how exactly are we supposed to give her family this charm thing if we don't know where they live, and we can't deliver it to them?" asked Kagome as they slowly meandered through the thick forest. Inuyasha had returned back to his half demon state, and was leading the group carefully through the dense foliage.

            "Shut up, wench," he growled, trying to concentrate on where exactly this strange amount of youki was coming from. Kagome suppressed the urge to "sit" him. She knew she shouldn't talk so loudly, not with this strange youkai that was lurking around these parts of the woods, but she still felt the need to understand how Inuyasha was going to take care of the favor that he had promised that princess. _It's not because I'm jealous of her, am I?_ she wondered to herself. That was ridiculous! What was there to be jealous of? Just because she was pretty, elegant, and sophisticated didn't mean a thing. _I mean, look at Inuyasha. He is anything but sophisticated or elegant, but I still like him._

            She thought about it for a moment. _Like him? _she snorted to herself. _More like love him. I'm such an idiot sometimes, _she sighed softly to herself. She really must have been crazy to fall for someone like Inuyasha, but after all, what was there not to like about him? He may have acted like an immature kid most of the time, but she knew that he had a sensitive side to him that he liked to keep buried.__

_            And I can't blame him, _Kagome thought, taking care not to fall too far behind her group. _With father and mother gone when he was so young, and a brother like Sesshoumaru, I'm surprised that he still **has** a sensitive side._ She sighed. She was hopeless. The guy she liked was walking right in front of her, and yet she still never got the courage to walk up to him and say that she loved him. She knew it was an obvious fact among her friends by now, but she still felt that she should tell him, even though he probably already knew. If he didn't, he was more stupid than she initially thought.__

_            Either that or he's pretending, _she thought, sighing again. But she was afraid to tell him. Afraid of what he might say when she finally declared her love for him. Would he push her away? Laugh at her? Scorn her? Compare her to Kikyo?

            Or would he just give her those sad eyes of his, eyes that showed he had experienced more pain than he ought to have, more pain than he deserved?

            Kagome tried to find the sun though the thick canopy, but failed. _He doesn't deserve any pain at all. He should be happy. He deserves to be happy after everything that's happened. _But she knew that he would never find it. Not until they reunited the shards of the Shikon no Tama and defeated Naraku. Her eyes surveyed the land before her, green light illuminating the dense brush.

            Then she realized that she couldn't find any of her friends in front of her.

            "Inuyasha?" she called, afraid to use a loud voice for fear of alerting the youkai there to her presence. _Where did everyone go? They were standing right in front of me… _She sighed, mentally berating herself for getting lost in her thoughts.

            "Oi, where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asked as he noticed that it was unusually quiet. He observed his group. Miroku was there, on his right side, looking slightly dazed; Sango was on his left, looking sleepy. Had they all really been this tired? Maybe he shouldn't have pushed them so hard…

            He started to frown as he noticed that both Shippou and Kirara were drooping from some exhaustion that he could not understand. Miroku and Sango getting tired, he could understand, and maybe Kirara too, even if she was a demon, but Shippou? What had the child done that was so taxing?

            Suddenly, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Kirara all fell to the ground, unconscious. He cursed under his breath. _Damn! What do I do? And where's Kagome? _He tried to sense the surroundings around him, but detected nothing. _That's strange,_ he thought, his brow furrowing in thought. _I can't even feel animals in this forest. What kind of place is this? _He glanced worriedly at his fallen companions and debated what to do.__

_            Hmm… Maybe if I…?_

            He fell to the ground suddenly, seemingly to be in a state of sleep. He tried not to get his ears to twitch when he heard the sound of someone, or something, approaching. _Closer… Closer… _His hand shot out suddenly, grabbing whoever it was.

            "What have you done to them?" he growled, already standing and looking as if he were ready to kill this youkai that was before him.

            "You…!" the weak youkai gasped. "Why haven't you fallen like the others?"

            "Undo whatever you did to them!" Inuyasha growled, tightening his grip on the demon's neck.

            "I—If I do, will you spare my life?" he rasped. Inuyasha was tempted to end the youkai's miserable life then and there. He couldn't stand such cowardice. He had half a mind to kill the youkai, knowing that with the youkai dead, the spell he cast would most likely die also, but then Kagome wouldn't be happy with him. She wouldn't like it if he killed someone who was defenseless and was already asking for mercy.

            "Undo your spell, and you live," he said, throwing the pitiful youkai down hard. The youkai quickly sent another wave of spells at Inuyasha, but to no affect.

            "Why…?" gasped the youkai as he realized that Inuyasha was ready to tear him to shreds. Inuyasha jumped above him, swinging Tessaiga out of its sheath in one graceful movement. Suddenly the youkai understood. He quickly cast another hoard of spells at Inuyasha. Inuyasha felt his body paralyze, and he barely landed on the ground without a scratch. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open now.

            "I understand now," the youkai sneered, his confidence restored now that he had Inuyasha kneeling before him. "You're a hanyou. No wonder my spells didn't have any affect on you. You're neither human, nor youkai. Just a nuisance."

            Inuyasha tried to growl angrily at the cocky youkai, but found that he didn't have the strength to. He was fast losing consciousness, though he tried to pool his stubbornness together to hopefully resist the affects of the spell a little bit longer. He couldn't fall unconscious. He had to help his friends to safety, then he could deal with this arrogant fool.

            "Still hanging in there?" the youkai mocked. "Poor hanyou. Can't even fall prey to a spell correctly."

            "You're the bastard who doesn't even know how to subdue such a worthless thing as a hanyou," Inuyasha spat out, trying to fuel his anger to give him the energy for an attack. One attack would be all it took to knock this demon out of the ring.

            "My spells are perfect!" the youkai protested angrily. "It's you who's strange!" Inuyasha remembered how Kagome had said the same thing to him so long ago, when he had gave her his outer clothes and commented on her fragile skin. Was he really so strange? Did he really not belong anywhere? After all, his own mother had abandoned him…

            But he could still remember times when she cared for him, loved him, held him close. Muonna had not been far off in her illusion of his mother. Even if she had left him alone in the world, even if she didn't care for him now, he would still honor what she had bequeathed him. Kagome had taught him not to be ashamed of his human side, though he sometimes still had trouble practicing that. His mother made him hanyou, but he would never give that up. Not while there was still a part of him that cared.

            "Prepare to die, bastard," Inuyasha said through gritted teeth. He was really having trouble resisting the spell. He swiped his claws at the demon in a familiar move, slicing the demon up.

            "Sankon Tetsusou!"

            The youkai fell in shattered remains, steaming slightly from where it landed. _Strange, _Inuyasha thought, his head feeling foggier than ever. _If he's dead, then why hasn't the spell broken?_

            "You fuckin' hanyou!" the youkai spat in rage as he rejoined together. "How dare you…!" Inuyasha could feel a dark wave of youki coming from the demon as he prepared for a spell that would ensure death to whomever it was cast upon. "Die!" he said, blasting the spell at Inuyasha.

            He tried to get up to try and block it with Tessaiga, but he was drained of all his energy. Suddenly an arrow of light shot through the air and purified the dark spell, exploding on contact. Inuyasha shielded his eyes from the bright light, and could suddenly feel the presence of all the living things in the forest, as well as the one who fired the arrow.__

_            Kagome…_

            He saw her shout something to the youkai, and with another blast and the spell on him was suddenly lifted.

            "Inuyasha, are you all right?" she asked, her voice heavy with concern.

            "Of course I'm all right," he said, throwing on his usual bravado. In truth, he was incredibly tired. That youkai must have been sapping their energy with his spell. "Go check on the others." She looked hurt as he brushed her away like that, but did as he told her to, waking the others gently. He wanted nothing more than to apologize to her, but he didn't know how. Apologizing just wasn't his thing, and he couldn't bring himself to learn how to do it. He watched her guiltily as she picked up the Shikon shard that had fallen from the youkai. He knew he should say something to her, but he had never been too good with words.

            "What happened?" asked Miroku, trying to get himself to fully awaken. Sango rubbed the sleep from her eyes near him, while Kirara and Shippou yawned.

            "Kagome beat the youkai and got the shard. That's all," Inuyasha said, forcing himself to get up without so much as a wobble. He had to look strong at all times, no matter what. He couldn't' afford to look weak at any one moment. If he was weak, or even looked weak, he knew that he would be susceptible to the dangers of the world that he knew so well.

            "What? Kagome-sama defeated the youkai by herself?" asked Miroku, looking impressed with Kagome. But she didn't look pleased. She just watched as Inuyasha started to walk away from her, her eyes filled with something that should not have been there for a girl of her age.

            She didn't understand him. She didn't understand why he always had to push her away, why he always had to be alone, tough, never revealing his feelings, his thoughts, his dreams, or his hopes. Why did he always act this way? Why would he never open himself up fully to them, his only friends?

            She was trailing behind the others again, thinking. It was a good thing that she had fallen behind, otherwise she might have been entranced in the same spell that the others had. Or maybe she wouldn't have because of her powers? She watched Inuyasha, unsure of what she was feeling for him. Concern? Anger? Love?

            She had defeated a youkai by herself, proving that she was as strong as Inuyasha, yet why did she feel empty? She had thought that if she won in this little contest of power, she would be able to laugh and joke about it with Inuyasha, but the atmosphere that had settled on him did not invite any foolishness. He had that scowl on again, the one that he had had the first time that they met. Had the youkai said something to Inuyasha and hurt him?

            Kagome clenched her fists angrily. _I should have beaten him up to a pulp first, _she thought. _Nobody hurts my friend and gets away with it._

            "So where are we headed?" Miroku asked cautiously, also aware of the air of hostility that surrounded Inuyasha.

            "To run an errand," Inuyasha replied curtly. Apparently, he didn't want to talk right now, but Miroku pushed on ahead, not willing to let Inuyasha get absorbed in one of his moods.

            "What kind of errand?" he asked, his voice annoyingly calm. Kagome hoped that Inuyasha wasn't going to hit the monk for interrupting his silence.

            "The errand that the princess asked me to do," he said through clenched teeth. Miroku stopped in surprise.

            "Wait a minute," Miroku said, pondering for a bit. "You're obviously headed towards a specific destination, and it doesn't look like you're sniffing your way there…" Inuyasha let out a warning growl. "Does that mean you know where the princess' family is?"

            Inuyasha just turned away from the monk and continued walking, his mood becoming fouler, if that was possible.

            "I don't get it," whispered Shippou to Sango as they camped out. "Why would Inuyasha want to help someone he doesn't even know?"

            "I don't understand it, either," Sango admitted. "This really isn't like Inuyasha. He usually has to be pushed by Kagome-chan to do something, but this time, he's acting on his own."

            "You don't think that he likes the princess better than Kagome, do you?" asked Shippou, earning a scary look from the said girl. He gulped visibly.

            "I don't think so," Sango said. "He's not the type," she said, trying to reassure her friend, even though she wasn't participating in the conversation.

            "If you don't mind me asking," sounded Miroku's voice from a little distance away. "How are you going to get the charm to her family if you look like a demon?"

            "Shippou," Inuyasha said to Miroku, suddenly appearing before the girls and the young kitsune. "I'm going to borrow his power." Shippou looked agape at Inuyasha. Inuyasha was going to ask him for help? Had he missed something? Why was Inuyasha acting so strangely all of a sudden?

            "Shippou?" asked Miroku, equally surprised. Had something damaged his friend's brain? This wasn't like him at all.

            "Do you have a fever?" asked Kagome, worried about him.

            "I'm fine. I just have to do this favor," he said, not explaining why as he jumped into the branches of a nearby tree. "Go to sleep. We have to search for more shards soon."

            The other four below him exchanged worried looks. What was going on with Inuyasha?

            Inuyasha walked purposefully in front of them, never breaking his stride, seeming to know perfectly where he was heading. They were out of the forest now, and were walking on a small, dirt path. Then again, most of the roads that they took were usually small, dirt paths. Once in a while they would travel a main road, which was simply a bigger dirt path. Kagome frowned as she saw her shoes get covered with the dust from the road.

            "Can we rest?" asked Shippou from his perch on Kirara, who was walking peacefully beside them.

            "We just rested an hour ago," Inuyasha said, not even bothering to turn around.

            "But Inuyasha, it was an _hour_ ago!" Shippou protested.

            "You don't even need rest," Inuyasha grouched. "You've been riding Kirara all the way."

            "But my butt's becoming numb!" Shippou whined, hoping to get a semblance of the old Inuyasha back. Inuyasha would have normally hit him by now, but today, he wasn't doing anything. Did he really like that princess so much that he would rather help her and ignore his friends?

            "Fine, fine," Inuyasha said, stopping and surprising the group. Did Inuyasha just do what Shippou wanted? "Rest for a moment. I have to see how much farther, anyway." Then he dashed off, leaving a puff of dust wherever he came in contact with the road while he was leaping through the air.

            Everyone just looked at each other, not quite sure what to do. No one had really thought that Inuyasha was seriously going to let them rest, especially since he seemed so intent on doing the princess this favor. Now that he was letting them rest, they didn't know what to do.

            "As soon as Inuyasha gets back, we'll hound him until he tells us what's going on," Kagome said. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

            He leapt into a tall tree a little ways from the road and spotted his destination. The old castle stood against the blue, summer sky like blood against snow, its sharp features cutting through the warm air. He took the small charm out from his sleeve and compared the emblem with the one on the flag of the castle wall. They were the same. So, he hadn't remembered wrong after all.

            He walked back at a slower pace, knowing that the others could take care of themselves if a youkai should be foolish enough to attack them. He hadn't felt any real threats around them, and he doubted that a youkai would be able sense the shards from so far a distance.

            He arrived at the place where he had left the others, only to find that there was no one there. He looked around him, and wondered if he had remembered the wrong place. Suddenly, Shippou appeared and drove a wooden stake into the ground, and Miroku, Kagome, and Sango ran out from their hiding place, holding a long rope in their hands. Miroku, Sango, and Kagome positioned themselves so that each formed a corner of a square, with the wooden stake making the last corner. Shippou and Kirara stood a little distance away, watching as the ward became activated.

            "What the hell?" asked Inuyasha, as he tried to grab the rope, only to recoil his hand with a hiss. "What the hell is this for?" he demanded angrily.

            "We want to know why you want to help this princess so badly," Kagome said, determined to outlast Inuyasha in his stubbornness.

            "You've been acting very strange ever since that princess asked you for a favor," Miroku said calmly, unfazed by Inuyasha's glare.

            "We're just concerned because of the way you've been acting," Sango said, not quite sure that this was the right way to get Inuyasha to answer their questions. It wasn't exactly the nicest method, but she knew that the others thought that it was necessary to get Inuyasha to talk.

            "So come on and tell us, Inuyasha," Shippou said on his perch on top of Kirara. "It's not because you like her, is it?"

            "What?" asked Inuyasha, not understanding how on earth Shippou came up with an idea like that. As if he would ever like anyone except… Well, never mind.

            "Ah, judging by your reaction, Shippou must have been correct," Miroku, said, getting an all-knowing expression on his face. "I never thought that you would be like that, but I suppose that I really don't know you well enough."

            "What are you talking about?" demanded Inuyasha angrily. "Whoever said that I was doing this just because I like her? I'm not like you, bouzu." Miroku let out a long-suffering sigh.

            "Then why are you doing this?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha detected a sense of relief in her voice, and wondered what had she been worried about, anyway.

            "I-I'm…" he stumbled. What could he say that would reveal the least? He didn't want them to know why he was doing it. It was his own business, and it was private. He wasn't about to let anyone know more than they needed to.

            "I'm doing this out of pity," Inuyasha said, crossing his arms. He hoped he was convincing. He never really was a good liar.

            "Pity?" all of the asked in unison. Even Kirara had mewed something that sounded similar. Inuyasha scowled. What? He couldn't sympathize with people anymore?

            "Pity, is it?" Miroku asked slyly. "Funny. I never imagined you to be the type."

            "Inuyasha, just tell us the truth so that we can let you out," Sango said. "Otherwise we'll just have to keep this barrier up until you tell us."

            "I already told you. I'm doing this for charity," Inuyasha said. That wasn't so unbelievable, was it? He had always saved whomever Kagome told him to, didn't he? Then again, he wondered if he would be so charitable if Kagome hadn't been there.

            "Inuyasha, your lies are terrible," Shippou said, shaking his head as if ashamed for Inuyasha. "Even I can make a lie better than you."

            "What's so secret about it that you can't even tell us?" Kagome asked, starting to do her weak and weepy act. Inuyasha started to get nervous. He hated when she did that. It made him feel so guilty, like the time when he had told her when they were in his father's grave that she might die. He mentally cursed himself for his weakness. He couldn't stand seeing people sad, especially if it was because of him.

            "I'm just doing a favor," Inuyasha said, finally relenting.

            "Yes, yes," Miroku said impatiently. "And why?"

            "One of her relatives has helped me before. I'm just returning the favor," Inuyasha said. "Now can you let down the barrier?" Miroku thought about it for a moment.

            "No," he said finally, smiling his insufferable smile.

            "Why you—! I already told you why I'm helping that princess. What more do you want?" Inuyasha shouted angrily. _Stupid monk… When I get out of here, I'm going to have to punish him. _He wondered what he could do that would possibly make Miroku angry. Then again, Miroku never seemed to be angry, except when Naraku showed up, and it wasn't like he could just conjure up Naraku to make Miroku mad. Besides, that wasn't a good enough punishment anyway.

            "I want to know what that favor was," Miroku said, obviously enjoying Inuyasha being unable to attack him. He wondered if he should do the same thing in order to get Inuyasha to change his mind about becoming a full youkai.

            "Why should I tell you?" shouted Inuyasha, getting impatient with them.

            "Because if you don't, you won't be able to get out?" asked Miroku innocently. Inuyasha gritted his teeth in frustration. _When I get out, I'm going to pound him, _he thought.

            "Just get it over with," Sango suggested. She wondered why Inuyasha was being so reluctant to say what the favor had been about.

            "She just helped me for one night, that's all," Inuyasha grumbled, angry that he had no choice but to tell them.

            "Help you for one night with what?" asked Miroku.

            "Don't start getting your sick fantasies," Inuyasha said, annoyed. "I met her when I was a kid, so don't start getting funny thoughts."

            "You met the princess when you were a child?" asked Sango. "Wouldn't that make her incredibly old?"

            "Not the princess," Inuyasha said, as if it were obvious. "I met one of her relatives. Probably her grandmother if the similarities in their features can attest to anything."

            "Her grandmother?" asked Kagome, nearly dropping the rope in surprise. "What did she help you with?" Inuyasha suddenly scowled.

            "It was nothing," he said curtly, making Kagome angry. But it looked like the conversation was over. Inuyasha wasn't going to say anymore on the subject, even if they kept him penned up for the rest of the night, which, luckily for him, Sango managed to convince the others out of doing.

            But their little interrogation had cost them a day, with both Inuyasha and Kagome having a contest of who was the most stubborn. Inuyasha had refused to tell them anything more on the subject, so in the end, he was the victor. Kagome tried to look irritated at her defeat, but she couldn't quite pull it off well. They were all wondering what exactly had happened on that one night that Inuyasha had mentioned, but it seemed obvious that they were never going to find out.

            Kagome put her book away as she felt sleep creeping up on her. She looked up and saw that Inuyasha was resting on the top of a tree near her, and wondered if he had fallen asleep yet.

            "Inuyasha?" she whispered, getting only a twitch of an ear in response. Was that just a natural reflex, or was Inuyasha trying to tell her that he was still awake? She sighed, settling deeper in her sleeping bag.

            "Oyasumi nasai, Inuyasha," Kagome said sleepily, not expecting him to say "good night" back to her. She closed her eyes, trying to get the sleeping bag warmer so that she could feel more comfortable.

            "Oyasumi nasai, Kagome," she thought she heard, but wondered if it was just her sleepy mind making things up. She decided it wasn't important, and drifted off to sleep.

            "How long do you think you can hold the illusion?" asked Inuyasha, as Kagome slowly woke up. She got up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, yawning.

            "The longest is probably ten or fifteen minutes," Shippou said, feeling himself to be very important. "But I can't guarantee anything."

            "Well, you better make sure you make it to the maximum," Inuyasha said threateningly, "otherwise I'm going to have to hurt you."

            "Hey, but we had a deal!" Shippou protested. "If I help you, then you won't bop me on the head for one week."

            "That'll only happen if everything goes successfully," Inuyasha said.

            "That's stupid," Shippou said. "I'm not doing it anymore," he said as he started to walk away.

            "Oi, Shippou," Inuyasha said, cracking his knuckles loudly. "You care to repeat that?"

            "Kagome, Inuyasha is being mean!" Shippou complained, running to her.

            "Inuyasha, stop being mean to Shippou-chan," she said, still slightly sleepy.

            "He's the one who started it," Inuyasha said.

            "I did not!" Shippou protested.

            "Don't fight so early in the morning," Miroku said, the noise waking him up. "Someone might get grumpy."

            "Too bad Inuyasha is already grumpy," Shippou said. There was a loud crack, and soon Shippou was holding the bump on his head, crying.

            "Inuyasha…" Kagome said in a menacing voice. Inuyasha flinched at the tone of her voice. But really, it wasn't his fault! It was all Shippou's—

            "Osuwari," she said, sending the hanyou slamming into the ground, getting his face full of dirt. As soon as he was able to peel himself off the ground, he started yelling at Kagome.

            "What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded loudly. "I didn't do anything wrong."

            "You hurt Shippou-chan," Kagome said. Shippou ran in back of Kagome and made a face at Inuyasha, getting the dog demon angry.

            "Why do you always take _his_side?" asked Inuyasha sulkily.

            "It's because you're the one who's always wrong," Kagome said, Inuyasha's irritation rubbing off of her.

            "I am not always wrong!" he shouted.

            "Oh, you so _are_!" she shouted back at him.

            "Break it up already," Sango said, looking very grumpy. "It's bad enough that you two fight practically everyday, but did you have to do it in the morning?" Kirara lay on Sango's shoulder, nodding in agreement with her master.

            "Besides, we don't have time for arguments," Miroku said. "Don't you have something you need to do?" he asked Inuyasha.

            "I can't do it if the brat doesn't cooperate," Inuyasha said, sounding like he was back to normal.

            "I'm not a brat!" Shippou said angrily.

            "Of course you're not," Miroku said. "That's why you're going to help Inuyasha, even though he keeps on insulting you. That just shows that you're a better man than he is."

            "Miroku…" Inuyasha said in a warning tone.

            "I suppose we should start going, shouldn't we?" Miroku asked pleasantly. "We want to get there before nightfall."

            The rest of the group just looked at him shrewdly.

            "Right," Inuyasha said, voicing everyone's opinions. Miroku was going to go to freeload off people again.

            "We don't need any charlatans here," the guard said roughly, refusing to admit entrance to Miroku and the people in the rest of the group. "Especially one who claims to be a monk, but travels with youkai."

            "Tono-sama would be displeased if he knew we let a monk and his band in," the other guard said in a kinder and apologetic voice. "Even if there _were_ youkai running around in the castle."

            "I see," Miroku said, still smiling politely. "I shall go on my way now." He walked away from the castle, internally sighing at his failed attempt to land them a free room and meal. Oh well, there was always next time.

            "Inuyasha, what are you going to do?" asked Kagome, knowing that Inuyasha was determined to go in the castle to pay back the favor from so many years ago. She still wondered what the favor had been about, but she didn't want to ask Inuyasha, since he would get touchy about the subject. _I wonder if it has something to do with his childhood… He's implied that hanyou aren't exactly treated with the utmost respect, so I wonder… Does it have something to do with that? Was he hurt, and the princess' grandmother healed him?_

            "I'll just go in the way I had originally planned," Inuyasha said, turning to Shippou. "You think you can do it?" he asked Shippou.

            "Of course I can!" Shippou said loudly, looking irritated with Inuyasha for shortchanging him. But on the inside, he wasn't so sure. He was never really able to hold his form for long, and he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold Inuyasha's illusion long enough for him to get things done. If his illusion fell away, Inuyasha would be in danger. Just thinking about it made Shippou nervous. Inuyasha wasn't exactly the nicest guy to him, but he didn't want Inuyasha to die. Inuyasha and Kagome were the ones who had given him a family when he had lost his, and no matter how he acted towards Inuyasha, he would still be hurt if Inuyasha should die.

            "Why don't we just wait until the next new moon?" asked Sango, picking up the uncertainty in Shippou's movements. Kohaku had always been unsure of himself, and Sango could detect the exact same feeling coming from Shippou. She was surprised that she could think of Kohaku now and not arouse tears in herself, and wondered what exactly was it about the group that made her feel as if she belonged. One hanyou, one youkai, one monk, one priestess, and one exterminator… A strange family, but a family nonetheless.

            "I'm not going to wait until the next new moon," Inuyasha said. "That'll take too long. Besides, the charm that the princess gave me isn't any ordinary charm. It's way heavier than a normal one should be."

            "What do you mean?" asked Miroku.

            "I'm thinking that the girl must have put some secret message or something in the charm," Inuyasha said. "I can still smell the ink. She's probably more than just a hostage."

            "You mean she's like a spy, or something?" asked Kagome. A spy right inside the castle… That would make sense.

            "But hostages aren't allowed to do much," Sango said, frowning. "They usually just keep hostages for leverage against the hostage's group. There's no way that the princess went there to be a spy."

            "She probably isn't a spy," Inuyasha said. "She probably just overheard something, and since we were there, she decided to seize the opportunity to warn her family about it."

            "So that's why you want to give the family her message as soon as possible," Miroku said. "Just in case there's something important written in it."

            "Yeah. And I better get going before sunset. They'll get suspicious if any strange people appear at the castle so late, bearing a message," Inuyasha said, looking at the sky. "Shippou, do whatever it is you do already."

            "All right, but if you get caught, it's not my fault!" Shippou said as a way of warning Inuyasha. He then concentrated on making Inuyasha into another form. He had never done such a thing before, but Inuyasha had told him earlier that it was possible, so he was going to take Inuyasha's word and try. There was a little pop sound, and soon a human Inuyasha was standing before him.

            "Shippou-chan, you did a great job!" exclaimed Kagome, looking impressed with Shippou's handiwork. Shippou didn't answer. It was taking all of his strength just to keep up the illusion. He didn't dare break his concentration.

            Inuyasha took one look at Shippou and understood, running off towards the direction of the castle without saying good-bye.

            "Please be careful, Inuyasha," Kagome and Sango said at the same time. Shippou hoped that he wasn't going to be the one who caused Inuyasha to get caught.

            He ran to the castle, his human form much slower than his half demon one. When he was within sight of the castle, he slowed down to a walk, trying to look casual. Tessaiga was at his side, and he hoped that he really looked the part of a warrior as he neared the two guards from before.

            "Good day, sir, and what may we do for you?" they asked politely, with a slight hint of suspicion.

            "I'm here to deliver something," Inuyasha said, hoping that he didn't sound as nervous as he felt. He showed the guards the small charm with the emblem of a crane with a red sun in back. The guards recognized the symbol, and let him in.

            "It's from the princess, right?" the nicer guard asked. Inuyasha nodded affirmative. "She's always trying to help her family, even if she's being held hostage."

            "Just keep going straight," the other guard said. "You'll reach the room where Tono-sama usually is." Inuyasha walked towards the direction indicated, hoping that the lord was there. He wanted to get out of this castle as soon as possible. He wasn't good at pretending or tricking people, and he hoped that he could escape before Shippou was no longer able to hold the illusion.

            Sure enough, the room had a lord sitting in it, surrounded by a whole bunch of other men, mostly warriors. When Inuyasha entered the room, they all turned to look at him, an expression of curiosity and hostility meeting him.

            "A gift from the princess," Inuyasha said, holding the small charm in his hands.

            "It must be another message from Yuki-hime," someone exclaimed.

            "Bring it to me," the lord said, unable to suppress impatience. Someone took the charm from Inuyasha's hand, bringing it to the lord. Inuyasha stood there, not quite sure what to do. Was he supposed to leave right now? But what if they thought he was rude? Then again, if he didn't leave, what if they thought he was rude because they thought he wanted a reward for his troubles? Inuyasha decided that the safest choice was to leave, and was about to head out of the door when the lord stopped him.

            "I thank you for bringing this message with such promptness," the lord said, his expression dead serious. "Is there anything I can compensate you with for your trouble?"

            "N-no, thank you," Inuyasha said nervously, not quite sure what to say. He didn't want anything. He just wanted to get out of here before Shippou's spell wore off.

            "There has to be something that I can give you," the lord said, getting angry. "Are you saying that there is nothing within my possession that is worthy of you?"

            "What?!" Inuyasha said a bit too loudly. He was going to say, "When did I say that?" but thought better of it. This lord was stupid. He didn't want anything, and yet the idiot insisted on giving him something. _Must be some pride thing,_ Inuyasha thought. _Otherwise he wouldn't be doing this to show others how generous he is._

            "You must have done this for my daughter for a reason," the lord said. "And if it wasn't to get the reward, then what is it?"

            "I'm just returning a favor," Inuyasha said rather ambiguously. The others looked confused, and made no movement as Inuyasha walked out of the room.

            He was about to exit the premises when he felt a strong barrier blocking his way. He backed up, only to hit another invisible barrier, and he realized that someone had trapped him.

            "I thought so," someone said, slowly approaching him. "Your aura felt too strange to be a human's." Inuyasha growled in irritation. He had just done them a good deed, and this was how they repaid him?

            "What do you want?" asked Inuyasha, trying to keep his temper in check.

            "Want? Why, nothing more than to rid the world of all you youkai," the man said, looking like he was in his forties. He was dressed in a monk's garments, and Inuyasha wondered why a monk was inside the castle if the lord hated them so much. Then again, the monk had similar features as the lord, which meant they were probably related.

            "Stupid bastard. Do you want to die?" Inuyasha growled, angry at the man's attitude.

            "Oh? So you wish to fight me? You'll regret it, youkai," the man said, smiling. "This should prove to be amusing." With a wave of his hand and an utterance of an incantation, Inuyasha felt himself get shocked by the power of the man's houriki. He gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out, and he felt Shippou's illusion disappear with the first shock. He heard the guards cry out in surprise, and knew that the only way out now was to fight his way out.

            "What's going on?" the lord demanded, seeing the commotion outside. Then he spotted Inuyasha. "Y-youkai!"

            "Of course it is, nephew," the monk said. "I am simply getting rid of it for you." The lord took one look at Inuyasha, and recognition seemed to flash across his face.

            "You're the warrior from before," the lord said, noticing the same sword Inuyasha was carrying earlier. "A pity that you're a youkai. I was going to ask you to join us, but I suppose now it is impossible," the lord said. "I would thank you for running this errand for my daughter, but youkai are undeserving of my gratitude."

            Inuyasha wanted to lash out in anger, but the spell had forced him to his knees, and he was already having a difficult time breathing. Any more of this, and he would either die or become human, neither of which was pleasing in a situation like this.

            Shippou nearly fell backwards and landed on his head with the sudden shock that ran through his system as his spell was broken. Something incredibly strong had purified his spell so much that it had sent a shockwave to him, and Shippou worried about what had happened to Inuyasha.

            "Shippou-chan, what's wrong? Are you all right?" asked Kagome in concern, helping the small child up. "What happened?"

            "Something's happened with Inuyasha," Shippou said quickly. "Someone broke my spell."

            "Are you sure?" asked Miroku.

            "I'm sure! I'm sure!" Shippou shouted loudly. "We have to go and see what happened to Inuyasha."

            "Kirara," Sango said, the cat transforming to its larger form at her command. They quickly climbed onto the cat's back and set off towards the castle, all the while Shippou hoping that Inuyasha hadn't been caught because of him.

            They arrived at the castle, the sun setting behind a nearby mountain, casting its bloody glare onto the walls of the silent castle. Two different guards were guarding the door now, but the two guards couldn't see the people floating in the sky above them, so they posed no threat to the group. The courtyard was eerily quite, and no signs of any struggle seemed to be apparent. Kagome became more worried at the sight. If someone had tried to catch Inuyasha, then he no doubt would have fought back, but this scene showed that a fight hadn't occurred at all.

            "Do you think that someone put a spell on him?" Sango whispered to Miroku as they observed the scene below them. The people in the castle were moving around as if nothing had happened, and Kagome wondered if Inuyasha was even caught inside the castle.

            "Did you hear that?" whispered Shippou.

            "What?" asked Kagome in a quiet voice.

            "The people down there were talking about a hanyou being imprisoned," Shippou said in a quiet voice, trying to strain his ears to hear more. He was a kitsune, so naturally he had the same gift of acute hearing as a dog, though his hearing wasn't as good as Inuyasha's. "That means that Inuyasha has to be here."

            "How are we going to find where they're holding him prisoner?" asked Sango, trying to keep her voice low. Soon the sun set completely, leaving them all in darkness. At least now they would have less of a chance of being discovered, although they would also have less of a chance of finding Inuyasha in the dark.

            Kagome was about to suggest a plan when she thought she saw someone standing on the roof below her, but when she looked again, there was no one there. She shrugged it off as a trick on her eyes, but then she saw the same person again, gesturing for her to come down.

            "Sango-chan, can you please tell Kirara to land on that roof right over there?" pointed Kagome at the place where the person had been a moment ago, but had now disappeared.

            "Okay," Sango said, not quite sure why Kagome wanted to land right there. Kirara landed softly, barely disturbing the wind, and Kagome looked around her, searching for the person that she had seen.

            "That's strange. I could swear I just saw—!" She had to suppress her gasp of surprise when she found the person standing right next to her, near Kirara. Or rather, the person was standing _through_ Kirara.

            "Kagome-chan, what's wrong?" asked Sango, looking at Kagome's pale face. 

            "C-can't you see?" asked Kagome, pointing to the person next to her. Sango just gave her a funny expression.

            "What are you talking about?" she asked, not seeing anyone.

            "They cannot see me," the woman said, her hair moving with an unfelt breeze. "Only you. If you want to save your friend, you must follow me. You must trust me."

            "Trust you?" Kagome asked, wondering who this person was, and why she wanted to help Inuyasha. 

            "Kagome-sama, who are you speaking to?" Miroku asked, not seeing the person whom Kagome was talking to.

            "They…they really can't see?" asked Kagome to the specter, who shook her head. Kagome looked at the woman beside her and wondered where had she seen her before.

            "Kagome, what's going on?" asked Shippou, his voice shaking in fear.

            "There's someone who wants to help us find Inuyasha," she said to the rest of the group. "I… I think she's a ghost."

            "A ghost?" asked Shippou. Miroku looked at the empty air suspiciously while Sango started to shift nervously. "If it's a ghost, then why can't I see it? I could see all those kid ghosts last time."

            "I am not truly a ghost," the lady said to Kagome. "I have been dead for quite some time, and am now awaiting my chance to be reincarnated. I have already left this world, so I do not truly qualify to be a ghost."

            "Umm… Okay," Kagome said, wondering how to explain it to the others.

            "Think of me as a guardian angel," the woman smiled. "One who has come to help you."

            "Uh… She's not really a ghost," Kagome explained. "She says she's like a guardian angel."

            "That explains things then," Miroku said. Sango visibly relaxed, but Shippou was still trying to look through the air to see this mysterious person. "She's here to help. That's why only Kagome-sama can see her."

            "I don't get it," said Shippou, but Kagome just rubbed his head fondly.

            "So what do we do?" asked Kagome to the lady.

            "Follow me," she said, drifting off the roof to the courtyard below. With the help of Kirara, everyone else soon landed softly in the courtyard. Kirara transformed into her smaller form, and they all started following Kagome.

            "If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to help Inuyasha?" Kagome asked in as soft a voice as she could muster.

            "Long ago, I was a friend to him, and he was a friend to me," the lady said, walking through the dark halls without really touching the floor. Kagome tried not to look at her feet and instead tried to concentrate on what the lady had just said. She was a friend to Inuyasha long ago? Could it be that this woman was the person whom Inuyasha had said helped him all those years ago?

            "How did you meet each other?" asked Kagome, hoping to get some information out of this woman since Inuyasha obviously wouldn't tell her anything.

            "He was hurt," the lady said, her voice becoming distant. "I helped him."

            That was all well and nice, but Kagome wanted to find out how she had helped him, and why Inuyasha had been hurt. She tried a different approach.

            "So you helped a hanyou just for fun?" asked Kagome, hoping that the lady would become irritated enough the let something slip past her vague explanations.

            "He was not a hanyou at that time," the lady said. By now, she had caught the attention of nearly everyone in the group. "He was a human. I did not discover he was a hanyou until today."

            "Yet you are still willing to help him?" asked Miroku, impressed by the lady's calm character.

            "Be him hanyou or youkai, it does not matter to me," she said in a soft voice. "He was my friend, he is my friend, and he will always be my friend."

            "So what happened?" asked Shippou, now walking besides the lady.

            "What are you people talking about?" asked Sango, who was now walking in the back of the group.

            "We're trying to find out what—" Miroku paused in his sentence. "Wait a minute. I can see and hear you now."

            "Hey, me too," said Shippou, just noticing it.

            "Well, I can't," said Sango, still just seeing darkness before her.

            "The longer I stay away from where I am supposed to be, the more like a ghost I shall become," the woman said. "We must hurry. Otherwise I will again have to wait several years before I am given the chance to reincarnate."

            The group started to hurry along, still trying to keep their noise at a minimum. The woman started to speak again.

            "It was sunset when I met him, bruised and battered, unable to stand on his own any longer," she said, her voice misty. "He looked to be the same age as I, five years old or so. I brought him to the cave where I was hiding from my father and took care of his numerous cuts."

            "Why were you hiding from your father?" asked Shippou, unable to imagine why anyone would do such a thing, except maybe as a joke.

            "I was a princess, and unable to go out on my own, so I decided that I would run away for a while," the lady laughed softly. "And it was during this time that I met Inuyasha. He was so polite, and spoke like a prince that I could not understand why he had been beaten as he was."

            "Inuyasha? Being polite?" asked Kagome.

            "And speaking like a prince?" asked Shippou.

            "Are we even speaking about the same Inuyasha?" Miroku asked. Sango tried to puzzle out what they were speaking about with their questions, but really had no luck.

            "I know he is the same," the woman said in a softer voice so that it was difficult to hear her. "He still has that same personality, though I must say that his vocabulary has significantly changed," she said in a lighter voice. "He was very grateful to me, but kept on insisting that he needed to leave. I did not understand then, but I do now. He wanted to leave because he was afraid that he would be in danger if I found out about his true heritage. But he should have known that I never would have betrayed him."

            The lady paused in her speech as she saw two hallways diverge from the hallway they were standing in. She seemed to think for a moment before taking the right path.

            "I could tell that his injuries still hurt him, so I insisted that he stay, and in the end, partly because he could not get up by himself, he decided to stay," she said. "To pass the time, I told him a story that I had heard recently. We passed the rest of the night speaking. I remember that he had told me something about his family, but I am afraid that I do not remember it right now." She started looking at each door that they were passing more slowly, and Kagome knew that they were near their destination.

            "I fell asleep, and when dawn rose into the morning sky, I found that he had already gone," she said, observing the pattern on each door. "I was upset, but glad that I had met him. The only reason that I had returned to my father as quickly as I had done was because of something he had said. I knew then that I could not take my family for granted, and returned to be the princess that I was. I never forgot him. I suppose that I had a childhood crush on him, and I hoped to see him again, although it is obvious that I never did."

            She stopped in front of a door with the patterns of cranes and turtles on it. She gestured for Kagome to open the door, and Kagome slowly slid the door open. She could feel the tingling of an especially strong spell from the inside, and could see someone lying in the middle of a hastily drawn circle.

            "Inuyasha," she gasped, as she quickly walked into the room. She knelt down next to him, and saw his obsidian, dark hair, and knew that the spell must have been one of purifying nature. She tried to pull him to an upright position, putting her hand behind his back and trying to help him up when she felt her hand touch something sticky. She pulled her hand away and saw that it was stained with something crimson, making her skin crawl.

            Suddenly the entire room lit up, and she saw that there were many soldiers, as well as one monk standing in the room. She looked at them angrily. How could they do this to Inuyasha? And by the looks of things, they had hit Inuyasha only after he had turned human. Inuyasha would never have stood around long enough to be hit by anyone, even if he was weakened in his hanyou state.

            "I knew that his friends would come back for him, but I never expected his friends to be humans," the monk said, smirking. "But I suppose any human that associates themselves with youkai must be deserving of death."

            "I suppose I am correct in assuming that it is you who did all this?" Miroku asked, seeming to be in control of the situation. What his face did not show, his heart did, and it was now pumping away madly, unsure of which option would be the safest, especially with Inuyasha out of commission.

            "Who else would have such power?" the man asked, as haughty as ever. "But the show is over, and it is time for me to rid this world of scum like you."

            "How ironic," Miroku said, taking a step forward and inconspicuously wiping part of the circle away. "I was going to say the same thing to you." There was a bright flash as the spell suddenly disappeared, and an Inuyasha in hanyou form started to get up, touching the back of his head tenderly.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome said, relieved to see him get up. He looked menacingly at the people who had imprisoned him. The soldiers backed up a step, but the monk stood his ground.

            "So you're up again. No matter. I will just subdue you again!" the monk shouted, sending a wave of spells at Inuyasha. Miroku hastily erected a barrier to block the spells, but the monk relentlessly pounded the barrier with spell after spell, so that the barrier started to crack, and eventually shattered.

            "Humph," the monk said, looking disdainfully at Miroku. "This is what you get for defying your teachings." He sent another wave of spells at Miroku and the others, and Miroku tried to put up another barrier, but he knew that he was too slow. He could feel the spells inches from his face when something stopped the spells in its path, negating their power.

            "Let's get out of here," Inuyasha said suddenly, surprising Miroku. Inuyasha was not usually one to let his enemies go so easily, and yet here he was, suggesting a retreat. With his sword, Inuyasha blasted a section of the castle away, allowing for them to escape. They quickly followed Inuyasha out. Kagome looked behind her, wondering what had stopped the spells, and noticed that the soldiers who were trying to come after them were also stopped by some invisible wall.

            As she ran with Inuyasha and the others, she saw someone standing there, on the roof of the castle. It was that woman from before. She seemed to smile not at Kagome, but at someone else. Kagome was about to turn around and tell Inuyasha to look at the strange woman when the woman waved, and suddenly disappeared into the night.

            "Well?" asked Miroku, waiting for Inuyasha to answer his question. "What exactly happened so many years ago?"

            "Yeah. She must have come back to this realm to help you for a reason," Shippou said, curious as to how Inuyasha would reply. There was a lapse of silence before Inuyasha finally started to speak.

            "It was on a new moon, when I was still a brat," Inuyasha said, knowing that his friends would never leave him alone unless he told them the story. _Friends? When did I start thinking that way? _But they really had to be his friends for him to reveal such a guarded thing as his past.

            "We know all that already," Miroku said, getting slightly impatient. "That woman told us."

            "Yuki-hime told you, huh," asked Inuyasha. _So that presence that I had felt there… That was her?_

            "Her name is also 'Yuki'?" asked Miroku, looking surprised.

            "What do you mean by 'also'?" asked Sango, looking at Miroku very suspiciously.

            "Heh heh… Nothing at all," Miroku laughed nervously.

            "I bet he's talking about that princess from before," Kagome said, giving Miroku a knowing look. Miroku just sighed.

            "Anyway, what happened?" asked Shippou, determined to know what happened to Inuyasha. _Inuyasha has also lost his parents, _Shippou thought. _But why does he act so much meaner? Even I'm not that mean, and I saw my father killed in front of me…_

            "I ended up staying with her till I could leave," Inuyasha said gruffly.

            "Was that because you were badly beaten up by someone?" asked Shippou, and quickly covered his mouth when he saw the hurt that flashed ever so briefly across Inuyasha's face.

            "Why would anyone ever beat a human child, anyway?" asked Sango. "Inuyasha, did you do something wrong?"

            "Of course he didn't do anything wrong!" Kagome said, immediately jumping to his defense. "If he did, then Yuki-hime would not have helped him to escape."

            "Maybe she didn't know?" asked Miroku.

            "It happened before I transformed," Inuyasha said quietly. "I escaped from them just as I started to change."__

_            Them? _thought Kagome. _There was more than one?_

            "So that was why you were injured," Miroku deduced. "Your youkai powers were gone, so they were unable to heal you."

            "But why would anyone attack a youkai?" asked Shippou. "Was it another youkai that attacked?"

            "Does it matter if it was another youkai or if it was a human?" Inuyasha asked, causing the others to fall silent. "A hanyou is a hanyou. It makes no difference to either of them."

            "Inuyasha…" Kagome said, her heart tearing at Inuyasha's pain. _Inuyasha… As long as you're with us, we'll never let the same thing happen to you again. We'll never allow anyone to treat you that way… _She held his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. _So, you don't have to worry. And…you don't have to feel that pain anymore…_

            "She mentioned a story," Miroku said, wanting to change the subject. "She told a story to you. Would you care to tell it to us? Perhaps it can act as a bedtime story for Shippou?"

            "Yeah, Inuyasha. Tell us the story!" said Shippou eagerly, catching on to what Miroku was trying to do.

            "You've already heard it," Inuyasha said, turning away, and slipping his hand out of Kagome's. She put her hand back in her lap, wondering why he was always pushing everyone away when he was hurting. He should have known by now that they would always stand by his side, no matter what.

            "What is it, though?" asked Sango, wanting to get his mind off the previous topic.

            "It was the story of Kaguya-hime," Inuyasha said, not bothering to look at them.

            "Oh, the one that Kagome-sama told us the other day?" asked Miroku. He frowned slightly. "If I remember correctly, at that time, you said that there was something wrong with the story. Did Yuki-hime tell you a different version?"

            "No… It was the same," Inuyasha replied. He turned to Miroku. "But both versions are wrong."

            "What do you mean?" asked Kagome, pretty sure that she had remembered the story correctly.

            "There were only six suitors mentioned in the story," Inuyasha said. "But there was one more. He was sent to make clothes that would be hard to break, and would be able to grow to fit the master, and repair itself if broken."

            "Hard to break…?" Kagome thought out loud. _Could it be…? Inuyasha's clothes! But that would mean…_

            "Unlike the others, he actually succeeded, and so, true to her deal, she married him," Inuyasha said. "But of course she knew that he would be able to do it. They had known each other even before she proposed her deal, and she had made sure that she selected a task that he would be able to accomplish."

            "Inuyasha, how do you know all this?" asked Shippou, looking clueless. Miroku looked at Inuyasha, suspicions starting to arise in him. Inuyasha looked like he had suddenly realized he had said too much, and immediately stopped telling the story.

            "Forget it. It's not important, anyway," he said, leaning his back against the tree, careful not to bump his still tender head. _Damn it. Why am I telling them this all of a sudden? It's not like they need to know._

            "Inuyasha, could it be that Kaguya-hime is your—" Miroku started.

            "No," Inuyasha cut him off, sounding angry. "Kaguya-hime flew off to the heavens. My mother died of an illness." But he wasn't sure. That night, he had seen her fly off in the carriage, abandoning him, and yet, the next morning, she was there again. She had been struck down with some illness, but she was there nonetheless. And shortly, she passed away. Everyone said that the illness had killed her, but then, what was it that he had seen that night? Surely he didn't imagine the entire episode?

            "Of course," Kagome said. "Inuyasha's Okaa-san would never leave him, isn't that right, Inuyasha?" she asked, hoping to comfort him. Instead, he just looked away and gave a grunt, making her wonder if his mother really had abandoned him.

            "In any case, it's getting late," Miroku said. "Everyone should get some sleep. We should get moving as soon as we are able to." Sango nodded in agreement, and starting selecting a place to sleep for the rest of the night. Soon, everyone had chosen their sleeping place and were snuggled in and ready to sleep. Inuyasha hadn't moved up into a tree, and Kagome wondered if he was all right.

            "Inuyasha's is the most tired of us all," Shippou whispered to Kagome. Kagome nodded, looking at Inuyasha's sleeping face. She moved her sleeping bag next to him, hoping to offer what little comfort she had to give him.

            "That's why I suggested we go to sleep," Miroku said. "He looked a little tired from where I was sitting."

            "But Houshi-sama is right," Sango whispered. "We really have to wake up early in the morning and start moving. We've wasted a lot of time."

            "Well, then, oyasumi nasai, Sango," Miroku said.

            "Oyasumi nasai, Houshi-sama," she replied, turning over so that she was facing away from him.

            "Oyasumi," Kagome said to them. She turned to look at Inuyasha again, the fair, sliver of a moonlight making him look pale. _Oyasumi nasai, Inuyasha,_ she thought as she fell asleep, still thinking about him.

**Author's Note: **This story is probably not going to be updated very quickly seeing as these long chapters take a _very_ long time to write. So, please don't rush me because I'm doing my best to write this story as fast as I can. And please forgive me if I take too long.


	3. An Execution, An Extermination

**A God's Game**

****

**Chapter III: An Execution, An Extermination**

            She walked through the cold, marble hallways of the heavens, her face stony as one of the many statues lining the hall, but her heart pumping rapidly in…what was it? Fear? Anger?

            She stifled an urge to laugh at the foolish laws of the heavens. They could feel fear, they could feel anger, they could feel hate… But they could not feel love. To think that such an advanced civilization such as this had survived without love was beyond her, but then again, she too had once lived unknowing of this strange feeling called "love."

            "Hime-sama!" she heard someone call out. She stopped in her advance and turned around. She heard the person's footsteps echo in the long, lonely hall, reminding her of her sentence. Eternity… At least she would be able to watch over her son and protect him as best she could from her position.

            "I'm sorry, but may I please speak to Kaguya-hime before…" the soldier from before asked.

            "Of course, Ichiro," one of the guards said. "But be quick, or I'll get in trouble."

            "Thank you," Ichiro said. He turned to her. "Kaguya-hime."

            "What is it that you wish to speak to me of?" she asked, her voice distant. She had almost forgotten that she had always spoken in this tone of voice before she had gone to the realm of the mortals. She wondered what people felt when she had used such a voice. Her "parents" had not liked her detached tone of voice, so she changed for them. And…she also changed for _him_.

            "Y-your son," he stuttered, always getting nervous when speaking to her as an equal. In these past years, he had not changed a bit, but she supposed that it was difficult for gods to change in such a closed society. She, too, had only changed once she left this prison called Heaven.

            "Yes?" she said, her emotions carefully checked. She never revealed her true emotions to anyone, the only exception being the two people whom she loved most in her life. She wondered how her son was doing, what he was feeling. Did he miss his mother? Was he lonely?

            "I-I made a substitute body for you," Ichiro spilled out. "Everyone will think that you died of an illness. That way, no questions will be asked. And your son…"

            "He will believe that I did not leave him. He will believe that I died beside him—died because of a mortal plague," she said in a soft voice. She felt her insides freeze, unable to hold out against the anguish that she felt now. Her son would have to watch her die a death that was not true, a death set up so that he would never be able to discover his mother's heritage.

            "Yes… It'll be better for him to think that way. It'll be better for him to know no connections to this world," Ichiro said, sounding uncertain. But it was true, was it not? To be connected to this world of terrible rigidity and to never live a life free from the bounds of society… That would be what he faced if he knew his true heritage. She would never wish that upon her son, her jewel, the most precious of all that she had ever held in her hands.

            "Then it is best for him to believe that," she said, knowing that from that moment on, she was forever dead to him. Her son would never see her again, but she would always watch over him… She would always protect him. She would not leave her son alone, abandoned in a world known for its cruelties to those such as himself.

            "H-Hime-sama," Ichiro stuttered again, sounding very nervous. "I… I-I don't think t-that y-your son…"

            "What is it?" she asked, anxiety rising within her. What was wrong? Her son was at her parents' home and would be well cared for. What else did Ichiro want to say?

            "You-Your parents… They have been fated to die a week after your death," he said in one large breath. "There'll be no one… No one…"

            "No one to care for my son," she finished for him, her voice still cool, but anger and hatred boiling in her. It was that general. It had to be him. To think that he would stoop so low just to avenge his son was beyond her. But in a way…she understood his feelings. She understood his feelings of love for his son, but did he have to take his anger out on hers?

            "Ichiro, you must do something!" she said, turning to the soldier, her tone urgent but remarkably still calm. He was the only one who stood by her in times such as this, and in essence, he was her only friend.

            "D-do what?" he asked, awaiting her command. "I-I don't have a lot of power. I don't have the same power as you, Hime-sama."

            "Protect him, watch over him, provide for him—anything!" she said, her fear of her son's future eating her from the inside out. She realized that she was starting to sound hysterical, but she could not stop herself. "Find him a place to stay, do what you need to do!"

            "B-but Hime-sama!" he exclaimed, "I can't do that! I'm just a soldier. I can't do things like that."

            "You have to!" she begged, forgetting all dignity when it came to her child. "Ichiro, please!"

            "Ichiro, it's time," the guard said, grabbing one of her arms. "You can speak to her once her initial sentence is over."

            "What? What is her sentence?" asked Ichiro, afraid of what other influence the Heavenly General had exerted upon the people of the court.

            "Three hundred years in the dark side of the moon," the guard said, looking angry at the sentence. "And the rest of eternity trapped anywhere on the moon."

            "The dark side?" asked Ichiro. "But, Kaguya-hime is…"

            "I know!" the guard said. "I didn't make the sentence."

            Three hundred years in the dark side of the moon. Three hundred years? She, who was the Lady of the Moon, was to be trapped in the dark side, where her powers were next to nonexistent? She didn't mind that fact so much as the fact that she would not be able to watch over her son; to watch over the son whom she had promised she would always take care of.

            "I'm sorry, Hime-sama," the guard said, turning to her. "Let's go." And she followed him again, despair filling every crevice of her soul. There was nothing she could do; nothing until it was too late. She had broken all promises she had ever made to her only son.

            The guard led her to the execution chamber, where she was forced down upon her knees. So this was the way of the gods. To become one, one had to die. And yet, there were many who would be willing to pay that price. But not she… Not she.

            She closed the eyes of her mortal body one last time, before the giant blade of the executioner swung down upon her neck and rendered her senses useless.

            The white walls of the execution chamber were splattered with the terrible crimson of blood, shining in the holy light of the Hall of Heavens. The white marble was stained so deep that it would take eons to fade away.

            The people of the mortal world saw the new moon that night, and gasped in wonder and curiosity as the darkness of the night fell away to reveal a moon brighter than one that they had yet to see in their lifetime shine in the place of the dark moon. With this strange force against nature, the story of Kaguya-hime was born, and was soon spread across the land.

            But the true story was never told, and the child who was left behind watched in silence as he spent his first night as a human in full moonlight. It would be the last time that his human features would ever be revealed by the light of the full moon.

            "Don't worry. Sango-chan is a youkai exterminator. She'll get that youkai for you," Kagome said, trying to reassure the villagers. They had started off early in the morning, and Inuyasha had taken lead again, going towards a direction where he said he smelled blood. And so they arrived at this village, discovering that several people in the village had already died because of some mysterious youkai. The youkai had left only shells of withered humans behind in its attacks, with blood spilled when it attacked carelessly, and the villagers were afraid of more dead humans before the season was over.

            "You don't understand," one of the village men said. "This youkai… No one has seen how it looks like. If you go after it, it will most likely destroy you also. What we need is a god, not a taiji-ya."

            "But Sango-chan—" Kagome started.

            "No need," the man said. "If it was a man, perhaps there would have been more of a chance, but seeing that she's a woman…"

            "What does that have to do with anything?" demanded Kagome angrily.

            "Kagome-chan, it's all right," Sango said. "We'll get rid of that youkai whether these people want us to or not."

            "You'll get killed, miss," someone said in concern. "We don't want you to die on our account."

            "Yeah, that idiot only said stuff like that to dissuade you from helping," another man said. "He doesn't mean it."

            "But you should still leave before the youkai decides to attack you, too," a woman said.

            "Don't worry," Sango smiled. "I'm very experienced in this field. Besides, I've got several friends helping me." The villagers turned to look at a grumpy Inuyasha, a tiny Shippou, and a sighing Miroku standing behind the two women.

            "They certainly look capable," someone said.

            "Well, just let that big youkai kill the youkai," the man from before said. "Let all the youkai kill each other so we don't have to worry about them anymore."

            "Why you—!" Kagome spluttered angrily. Suddenly, someone screamed an ear splitting scream. Inuyasha leapt off in that direction.

            "Inuyasha, wait!" Kagome called after him, getting quickly on her bike and pedaling after him.

            "Kirara," Sango said as the cat youkai transformed. She got on with Miroku and Shippou, careful to place Shippou in the middle.

            "Kyaa!" Kagome screamed as she was pulled off her bike.

            "Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, running to her and scooping her up quickly as some strange hand was about to claw her apart.

            "What was that?" asked Sango, never seeing such a strange monster before.

            "Inuyasha, behind you!" Shippou shouted as Inuyasha quickly leapt into the air. When he turned around to look at what was behind him, he saw nothing.

            "Inuyasha, from the tree!" Miroku warned, seeing a long black arm stretch out to try and grab Inuyasha. Inuyasha evaded the attack and quickly placed Kagome near Sango and the others.

            "Where is it?" he growled, his eyes and ears searching the parameter for the youkai. All he was met with was the stifling warm air of the summer wind and a slight haze that was starting to run over the dry fields.

            "Did you see it?" the villagers asked, finally catching up to them. Inuyasha sniffed the air experimentally.

            "It's gone," he finally said, his eyes still searching the fields.

            "Eiji!" a woman screamed. "Eiji, my son!" She held the shriveled body close to her, weeping.

            "That's the tenth child," a man said.

            "At least the youkai doesn't have any prejudice as to who it'll kill," someone said cynically. "Men, women, and children alike have all been slain."

            "I'm sorry we couldn't get here in time," Sango said, looking at the body who only resembled a human in the number of limbs that it had.

            "But you got here faster than any of us ever would be able to," an old man said. "On behalf of the village, I would like to hire you."

            "You would be the village chief?" asked Miroku.

            "Yes. You may stay at my home tonight," he said. "Hopefully, with your skill, this evil demon will be destroyed before the next moon."

            "I hope," Sango said, looking at Kagome's fallen bike. What was it that had grabbed her? As a youkai exterminator, she should have been able to sense whatever it had been, but she had felt nothing. Were her skills becoming dull? Or was it that this was one of those rare youkai that people rarely encountered?

            "Sango, we're going," Inuyasha called to her as the others followed the chief back to the center of the village.

            "Coming," she called, giving one last look at the place around her. Then she quickly followed Inuyasha, wondering what they were fighting against this time.

            He sat on the bench overlooking the sea of clouds, waiting for his servant to return. The eternal peace of the heavens was starting to bore him, but he knew he could do nothing to prevent it. But soon… Soon that would all change.

            "Ryuten-sama," a wispy voice said. He turned to the source of the voice, wondering if the god had accomplished what he had set out to do.

            "Fuujin," he said, glad that his servant had returned. "Did you find someone suitable?"

            "The powers of the wind god are far reaching, Ryuten-sama," Fuujin said, bowing respectfully. "And I did find someone who may be more than suitable."

            "Oh?" asked Ryuten, interested. "And who may that be?"

            "He is a hanyou, though," Fuujin warned, not quite sure if his master wanted someone like that to work under him.

            "Hanyou?" his master asked, his interest definitely aroused. If he was that powerful as a half, all he had to do was extract the half of him that was more powerful, and soon he would have a warrior able to defeat the army of the gods.

            "Yes. His name is Inuyasha," Fuujin said.

            "Inuyasha?" he asked, recognizing the name. "The son of Kaguya?" 

            "Kaguya-hime, sire, and yes, he is the son of that princess," the god of wind replied, mildly chiding his master for his lack of respect.

            "Inuyasha, hmm?" Ryuten asked, amused. "If I remember correctly, he was a weak hanyou that sought to become a true youkai by using the Shikon no Tama. He is certainly not the strong warrior that I had in mind."

            "Ryuten-sama, consider this," Fuujin said, his tone becoming darker. "This hanyou has killed the terrible youkai, Ryuukotsusei. He has managed to injure his older brother, who is a true youkai. And he was able to break the seal of the miko, Kikyo-sama, and return back to life. Though he may not appear strong now, in the future, he may become one of the strongest warriors that this realm has seen in a long time."

            "Is that so?" asked Ryuten, starting to consider his servant's argument.

            "He is the son of Kaguya-hime and the great Inu youkai," Fuujin said, glad that his master was finally listening to him seriously. "He might have the power to fight the army long enough for you to exterminate the emperor and seize the throne."

            "Silence, you fool!" Ryuten hissed. "Do not speak to me of such matters again. Understood?"

            "Of course, Ryuten-sama," Fuujin bowed, realizing that if any god should overhear their conversation, they were as good as dead.

            "Put him to a test," Ryuten said calmly, gazing at the landscape of the heavens again. "I want to see how powerful that side of his blood is."

            "Consider it done," Fuujin said, slipping out of the room. Ryuten looked at the retreating back of his servant and offered one of his rare smiles. Finally, the Era of Dragons would soon begin.

            Kagome got out of the well, stretching out her back. She hoisted her now near empty backpack behind her and started walking towards her house, yawning. For the past few weeks, they had stayed at that village, trying to catch the youkai, but with no success. The youkai seemed to appear out of nowhere, and attacked without pattern, so that it was near impossible to catch it, much less exterminate it. The only thing that they had been able to do was to stop the youkai from killing anymore villagers, but even that was getting more and more difficult as the youkai was starting to learn each of their moves. Kagome wondered if the youkai was actually trying to do just that. Was it just luring them out so that it could study them?

            "Tadaima," she yawned, as she entered the house.

            "Okaeri," her mother said, smiling at her daughter. "You look tired. Do you want me to fix you a bath?"

            "Arigato, Mama," she smiled, as her mother quickly walked off to get her bath ready. Kagome put her backpack on the kitchen counter and started loading it up with the things that she would need when she returned to the Sengoku Jidai.

            She picked up a bowl of ramen, and smiled at her fond memory of Inuyasha. He had surprised her again. She would have stayed with her friends a bit longer, but it was he who had suggested she go back to her world and rest for a bit. Of course, she had protested, but then he just said that it wasn't out of his concern for her, but rather that he wanted her useless self to get lost. She would have believed his words, except he carried her all the way back to the well by himself, leaving the others to take care of the village. She put the ramen into her backpack. He was always doing that. He was always acting as if he didn't care, when it was so obvious that he did.

            She yawned again, and realized that Inuyasha had been right; she was tired. She sat down on the chair and was about to doze off when her mother gently shook her awake.

            "Take your bath, Kagome, then go to sleep," she said, smiling.

            "All right," Kagome said, going towards the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, happy that she was blessed with such good friends, and such a good family.

            She walked towards Kagome's house, carrying the assignments that Kagome had missed. The weather was warm, but not too warm, and she was glad to feel the comforting grace of the sun on her skin. But the thought quickly sobered her. Kagome was sick in bed, unable to feel such warmth, or see such beauty that the summer had to offer. And what bad luck it was to be sick even when the summer vacation had started. She hoped that Kagome would be able to finish all her assignments during this break, but she wasn't really worried about that. Kagome always managed to do well, even if she was ill.

            "Eri-chan, are you going to visit Kagome?" someone asked. She turned in the direction of the voice.

            "Hai," she replied, recognizing Satoru's mother. Rumor had it that her dead daughter had haunted her and Satoru until she was finally appeased by someone. Eri had half a mind to ask the woman, but decided against it. If the rumors were true, then it must have been painful to realize that Mayu had been the one that was causing Satoru's coma.

            "Would you mind giving her this?" she asked, handing Eri a soft package. Eri tried not to look sad as she saw the woman's scarred hands.

            "Of course not!" she said, smiling, fixing her hair yellow band before taking the package. "What is it?"

            "It's just for the festival," she smiled. "And to thank her."

            "Thank her?" asked Eri, curious. "For what?"

            "Oh, it's nothing really," the woman laughed. "She just calmed my child down, that's all."

            "Oh," Eri replied. _Calm down? As in pacifying a ghost? _she thought.

            "I'll see you later then, Eri-chan," she said, walking off. "And tell your mother that it's my turn to bake the cookies this year. Don't let her try to cover for me, all right?"

            "Hai," Eri said as she waved good-bye. She continued on her path again, wondering about what strange illness Kagome might have now. She was starting to question if Kagome really was ill. It seemed to her that Kagome had been the one in the rumors about Mayu, and if that was true, then that meant that Kagome had been running around at night, which definitely couldn't be healthy for her. And if she really was that ill, why did she always seem so healthy when she returned to school? Plus the fact that she seemed to mysteriously meet her mysterious boyfriend during her mysterious illness, and you have one mystery that could not be figured out. The only answer to all this would be that Kagome really wasn't ill, but then why would her grandfather and mother cover for her if Kagome was ditching school to run off with her boyfriend?

            "But Kagome doesn't seem the type," Eri thought out loud. But then did that mean she really was ill?

            "Eri, are you here to drop off Kagome's homework again?" asked Mrs. Higurashi as she approached the shrine.

            "Yeah, and I also have a package for her," she said, walking towards Kagome's mother. "Is Kagome okay today? Or is she ill again?"

            "Oh, I'm sorry, but she's still very ill," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I'll take those packages for you. You can go home now and enjoy your vacation."

            "Hmm," Eri said, handing over her load to Mrs. Higurashi. She knew that when Mrs. Higurashi made up her mind to do something, no one would be able to change it, except maybe for Mr. Higurashi, but she wasn't quite sure what had happened to him.

            "You're a very good girl, Eri," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I'm glad Kagome has such good friends like you."

            "It's really nothing, Higurashi-san," Eri laughed nervously.

            "You've been helping Kagome out a lot," she said. "Thank you."

            "It's no problem," Eri said, but she felt that there was some sort of secret that surrounded the Higurashi family. Whatever it was, she was going to find out. Kagome had not been her friend since preschool just to leave her in the dark like this. There had to be something going on in this house.

            "I'm leaving now, okay?" she asked. Mrs. Higurashi nodded, and tried to wave as the girl walked down the stairs. She reached into her pocket for her house keys when she realized that she had left her keys in the bag with Kagome's assignments. She quickly ran up the steps to the shrine, and was about to go to the house when she saw the door to the well house open.__

_            Is it a thief? _she thought, as she quickly hid behind a nearby column. Someone walked out of the small building and closed the door, walking across the shrine to the house.__

_            Kagome? But I thought…_ She looked at the girl walking towards the house. It was definitely Kagome, and she did not look sick at all. Maybe just a little tired, but being tired and being someone who had tuberculosis or whatever new disease she currently had was not the same. Eri was about to run after her and demand what she was doing, but decided against it. Maybe Kagome had just been resting in the well, if that made any sense at all. In any case, she was going to catch Kagome when Kagome was cornered.

            She waited till Kagome was safely inside the house and would have no chance of seeing her before she headed back down the steps again. She walked quickly to the nearest pay phone and slid her phone card into the slot, and dialed the number to her house. It rang a couple times before her mother finally picked it up.

            "Moshi, moshi," her mother said.

            "Okaa-chan, I'm going to be staying over at Kagome's for tonight, okay?" she asked, waiting for her mother to process the information.

            "Why? I thought Kagome was sick," she said, trying to puzzle out why her daughter had suddenly decided to stay at her friend's house. Eri usually wasn't an impulsive girl.

            "Kagome's well today, and I thought that I should spend some time with her before she becomes ill again," she said quickly, hoping that Kagome wasn't going to escape to wherever she escaped to before her conversation with her mother was over.

            "Fine then," her mother said. "Tell Mrs. Higurashi I said 'hello.'"

            "Oh, I almost forgot!" Eri said, "Don't bake those cookies!"

            "What?" was her mother's reply, but she quickly hung up and ran up the steps to the shrine again. She was going to get to the bottom of Kagome's "illness" once and for all.

            "You shouldn't let her go there so often," he said, getting irritated with her calm mood.

            "Jii-chan, she's happy, so let her be," Mrs. Higurashi said. "And finish your pickles so that I can start washing the dishes."

            "But she always comes back with cuts and bruises!" he hollered, trying to make her see sense.

            "But her friend gets more injuries than she does," she replied, "He must be protecting her."

            "Well he's not doing a good enough job!" he grumbled. "He probably doesn't care about her. He only wants her to find those pieces of the accursed Shikon no Tama, and then he's through with her. That youkai is going to harm Kagome, and you'll let it happen!"

            "Inuyasha would never harm me!" Kagome said in Inuyasha's defense, appearing suddenly in the doorway, having finished her bath. _Except when it comes to Kikyo, but that's not really his fault…_

            "K-Kagome?" his grandfather said in surprise, looking at her. He quickly recollected his wits. "Of course he wouldn't," he said, though he did not sound sincere.

            "You just said he would!" Kagome said loudly, wondering why her grandfather was suddenly changing his opinion. It struck her that maybe he was trying not to burden her with his misgivings concerning Inuyasha and the other world. Perhaps the only reason her family had so easily accepted her new situation was so that they could make life easier for her. Come to think of it, all of them had been helping her in some way to live the double life that she did. She wondered how long that they had been doing this, hiding their worries and fears from her, and felt guilty for not having noticed it before.__

_            I really am a selfish girl,_ she thought, knowing that she had taken everything for granted. She had been thankful to her mother for helping her by making her normal life easier for her, her brother for getting notes for her, and her grandfather for inventing numerous illnesses to cover up her situation, but she had never fully considered the extent that they each had gone to in order to help her. She felt like a spoiled brat for fighting with her grandfather for something that she knew he did only because he cared about her.

            "Kagome, your dinner is on the table," her mother said suddenly, guiding her to her seat. "Eat up before it gets cold again. Jii-chan, would you mind very much if you help Souta with his math homework?" she asked, turning to the older Higurashi member. There was something about her that did not allow dissent, and he quickly obeyed her orders. "Wash your dishes when you're done, okay? And Eri just dropped off more of your school assignments today."

            "Oh, tell her 'thanks' the next time you see her," Kagome said as her mother walked off to the living room. _Not only my family, but my friends are also helping me too, _she thought, realizing how lucky she was. She reminded herself to thank all of them later._ They all deserve more than just a "thank you," but for now, that is all I have to offer them. Maybe one day, I'll really thank them, but this is all I can do for the time being._

            "I already told her that," her mother replied. Kagome smiled. Her mother was always being helpful and making things easier for her. But Kagome wondered just how much her family worried about her when she was in the Sengoku Jidai. She certainly didn't want them to worry this much about her, and she knew that her grandfather had only been angry about Inuyasha and her traveling because he didn't fully understand him. She supposed that she had to bring Inuyasha over sometime and somehow convince him to stay long enough for her family to get to know and trust him. Then they wouldn't worry so much anymore.

Kagome drank her soup slowly, savoring the flavor, and wondering what argument she could use to get Inuyasha to stay in her time. She finished the rest of her meal quickly and washed the dishes.

            "Mama, I'm going to my room now, okay?" she asked, "I'll be leaving in the morning."

            "Oyasumi nasai, Kagome," her mother called out with her grandfather. She sighed again and walked up the stairs, carrying her bag of assignments. Now she knew for sure that her grandfather, and perhaps her mother were hiding their real feelings from her. She plopped down on her bed and took the homework out, as well as a package. She opened the package eagerly, trying to forget her problems for the time being, and saw that it was a lovely kimono. She picked up the small card that had fallen out when she had opened the package and read it.

            " 'Kagome, thank you for helping Mayu. This is just a gift for you. Hope you'll like it,'" the note read. "Thank you," Kagome said, smiling at the beautiful sakura colored kimono. She quickly rewrapped the present and put it in her closet. She'd try it on later, but first, she had to do her homework. She looked at all the loose pages that Eri had brought to her and groaned. Well, she'd better get started.

            She had walked into the well house and spent the rest of the night there, hoping to catch Kagome, and she now had a terrible backache. Once in a while, during the night, she would run down to a nearby store that was open twenty-four hours a day and grab something to eat or drink, or simply just to use the restroom, and had always returned to the shrine to find the light still on in Kagome's room. She had seen Kagome through the window, working hard, and decided that the girl wouldn't move until the morning, so she had camped out at the well house. What a terrible idea that had been!

            She yawned as she tried to get the kinks out of her body, and was about to walk out of the building when she saw Kagome approaching her. She quickly hid in a dark corner of the building and waited for Kagome to enter. Kagome swung the two doors open, and walked in, hoisting a _very_ large backpack that was not fit for someone who was supposedly so ill.

            She saw Kagome walk over to the well and was about to jump in when she suddenly called out, "Kagome! What do you think you're doing?"

            "Kyaa!" Kagome screamed, whirling around to the source of the voice. She froze when she saw Eri there, looking shocked, and angry. Kagome wondered what she was doing there. "E-Eri…" she said nervously, knowing that she was in for it now. Hojo may have been easy to fool, but Eri was a different story.

            "Yes, it's Eri," the girl said, walking towards her. She did not look like she had much sleep last night. "Do you care to explain to me what exactly you were about to do?"

            "I… Uh, I was going to make some offerings to this well so that I could get better!" Kagome said nervously, smiling. Eri did not look convinced.

            "Oh really?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Let's see you give the offerings, then." Kagome looked at her nervously, knowing that she was trapped. But she couldn't tell Eri. How could she explain to her friend what was going on? Eri would never be able to understand.

            "I can't give the offerings as long as you're here," Kagome said lamely.

            "I see how it is," Eri said, starting towards the door. Suddenly she turned around and pulled Kagome's backpack, causing her to lose her balance and fall. Eri quickly opened the pack and searched through it.

            "I see… I didn't know that the gods liked instant noodles," she said dryly.

            "Well, you learn a new thing everyday," Kagome laughed nervously.

            "Yeah, like how I learned my friend's been lying to me all this time," she said, closing Kagome's backpack. "You aren't sick. You don't look sick. I saw you coming out of the well yesterday," she said, causing Kagome to become pale. "And I saw you working on your homework all night. Your mother told me that you were sick a few minutes before you came out of this building, but how could she say that if you weren't even in the house?"

            "Eri…" Kagome said, unsure of what to do.

            "What is your family covering for you?" she asked suddenly, not looking at Kagome in the eyes. "What are you hiding?"

            "Nothing…" Kagome said, but they both knew it wasn't true. Kagome got up and brushed the dirt off her uniform. She had wanted to go back early to surprise Inuyasha, but she supposed that she couldn't right now. Inuyasha had said he'd come back in three days time to pick her up, and she supposed that the remaining two days was more than enough to tell Eri everything. Sango was a good friend, but there were just some things that Sango would never be able to understand, simply because she was someone who lived in the Sengoku Jidai. But with Eri, it was different. She'd known Eri for practically her entire life, and she knew she could trust the girl. Besides, it was getting difficult for her to have no one to confide her worries in.

            "Eri, let's go back to my house," she said, helping the girl up. "I'll tell you what's going on there." Eri nodded, glad that her friend was finally willing to tell her what had been going on these past months.

            "And now, we're trying to exterminate this one youkai that's attacking the villagers," Kagome said, lying in her sleeping bag on the floor. Eri was in the bed, sleeping over for real this time.

            "And that's when you came back?" she asked, sleep miles away from the two girls.

            "Yeah. Inuyasha made me," Kagome said, smiling in the darkness. Eri started giggling. "What?" Kagome asked.

            "You're so hopeless, Kagome," she said, sighing. "Every time you talk about Inuyasha, you get that look."

            "What look?" Kagome demanded playfully.

            "I don't know. You look all happy and everything," she said. "It makes you look so cute."

            "Eri!" Kagome said, knowing her friend was teasing her.

            "I think I understand now," Eri said in a more serious voice. "I think I know why you would like this Inuyasha so much. But you know, the way you described him at school really made him look like a bad character."

            "I know," Kagome sighed, remembering the expression on Ayumi and Yuka's faces.

            "I suppose everything has to be put in context," Eri said. She fell silent for a moment and Kagome thought that she had fallen asleep, but she started to talk again. "I want to meet him. I want to meet the guy that Kagome deems worthy of her attention," she giggled.

            "I think I'll make him stay at my house some time," Kagome said, remembering her family again. "I need my family to know him better, so that they know that they can trust him."

            "It'll be difficult to trust him if he has the personality that you say he has," Eri warned.

            "I guess…" Kagome said, hoping that Inuyasha would behave himself if he were here.

            "Ooh, Kagome," Eri said. "I get what you're doing."

            "What?" asked Kagome, confused.

            "You're letting your family know your boyfriend," Eri said. Kagome was about to protest that Inuyasha wasn't hers, and that he belonged to Kikyo (which she had already told Eri a thousand times, but Eri seemed to think differently) but Eri interrupted her.

            "It always goes like this," her knowing friend said. "First an introduction, then you get your family to know the person, and the next thing you know, you're getting married."

            "Eri! I'm _not_ getting married to Inuyasha," Kagome said, blushing crazily.

            "Yeah, sure Kagome," Eri said, not paying any attention to Kagome's indignant splutters. "Whatever happens, I have to meet him. That way I can see if he really loves you or not."

            "Eri…" Kagome groaned. What had she gotten Inuyasha into?

            "Too bad. My mind's made up," Eri said, snuggling deeper into Kagome's blankets. "Oyasumi nasai, Kagome."

            Kagome just grumbled a response.

            "You're late," Inuyasha said, as Kagome climbed out of the well. He sniffed the air. Kagome had a different scent on her. "Oi, were you playing around with your friends or something?" he asked.

            "Hmm? You must mean Eri," Kagome said, surprised that he could still detect Eri's scent even after she had been gone for a day. "She's a friend," she said. _A friend that knows about as much about you as I do now, _she thought to herself. She grinned, happy that she wasn't alone in her world anymore.

            "Let's go," Inuyasha said, kneeling down so that she could climb onto his back. "We found out what kind of youkai it is."

            "Really? What is it?" Kagome asked, wondering if they were going to finally beat the youkai.

            "It's a shadow youkai," Inuyasha said darkly.

            "Shadow?" asked Kagome, not having heard of such a thing before.

            "Yeah. It attacks from shadows," Inuyasha said as he leapt through the air. "As long as there's a shadow, he can attack from there."

            "But that means that our shadows—" said Kagome, realizing what that meant.

            "No one is safe because wherever anyone goes, there will always be a shadow that follows."

            "Then how are we going to defeat it?" asked Kagome. Inuyasha grinned.

            "By using our shadows," he said cryptically. Kagome wondered what he meant.

            "I hope it works today," Sango said, looking at the circle of villagers that had formed at their request. "We've stayed nearly a month here."

            "Yes, I'm starting to get a little tired of the same scenery," Miroku said, looking at the scenery without much enthusiasm. "And chasing after the youkai everyday is starting to tire me out."

            "Oi, Kagome, you all right?" Inuyasha called out.

            "Everything's okay up here," she called back from Kirara's back. Shippou sat next to her, his eyes watching for any suspicious shadows.

            "Kogoro!" Shippou shouted suddenly. The villager named Kogoro quickly threw some sort of powder onto his shadow. There was a strangled cry as the youkai tried not to scream, and a moment later, the shadow youkai appeared, his form finally solid.

            "I'll not let you escape!" he hissed, grabbing the villager's leg.

            "Sankon Tetsusou!" Inuyasha yelled, clawing the youkai into pieces. The shadow quickly rejoined, glaring at Inuyasha.

            "Is this how you want to play? Then so be it," he hissed, trying to go back into a nearby shadow.

            "Trying to escape?" asked Miroku, activating his well-placed Ofuda. "I don't think so." The youkai screamed as it realized it was caught. Suddenly, it disappeared.

            "Where did it go?" asked Sango, running to Miroku's side. "Was it destroyed?"

            "No," Miroku said, looking around him. "He escaped somehow."

            "What?" asked Sango in shock. "But the powder I gave everyone, it was made to make intangible youkai tangible!"

            "And my Ofuda was supposed to seal the youkai, but it didn't," Miroku said, trying to figure out how the shadow youkai had disappeared.

            "You should know that a youkai of shadow is just that," a disembodied voice said. "We are shadow… We are an illusion. So," the youkai said, suddenly appearing from Shippou's shadow on Kirara. "Stop chasing after an illusion!" he said, grabbing Kagome.

            "Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, jumping up towards her.

            "Get away!" Kagome screamed, shoving his slimy hand away. There was a blast of light and he was suddenly gone again. Kirara landed quickly on the ground. The sky would provide no protection for them.

            "You okay?" asked Inuyasha, genuinely concerned.

            "Of course," Kagome tried to reassure him. "He just scared me, that's all." But she knew that the youkai had meant to kill her, and he would undoubtedly do it if he should again get the chance to.

            "Kagome-sama, was that your miko powers?" Miroku asked, running towards her.

            "It was my powers," Shippou said. "I just altered my kitsune-bi a little bit so that I could get rid of the shadow that the youkai was coming from."

            "That was pretty smart of you, Shippou-chan," Kagome said, rubbing Shippou's head. The child just laughed, happy to get a compliment.

            "It's too early to relax yet," Sango's voice called out.

            "Who just said that?" Sango shouted. Everyone turned to look at her. Was she starting to go crazy because she was spending too much time chasing after this one youkai?

            "A friend, Sango, a friend," Miroku said. Or did he? He looked in shock as he quickly started searching for the source of the voice.

            "Don't be so paranoid, Miroku-sama," Kagome said.

            "Who's pretending to be me?" demanded Kagome, realizing that the youkai was playing with them.

            "Who would dare pretend to be you? No one would risk your anger," Inuyasha said in a semi quiet voice, sounding like he was far away from them.

            "Bastard, how dare you use my voice?!" Inuyasha shouted loudly, deafening the people around him. He leapt into the air and brought his fist crashing through the ground of the shadow of a nearby tree. The ground exploded from the force, and out slithered a shadow on the ground, trying to escape.

            "That's the real one," Inuyasha said, chasing after it. "Tessaiga!" he shouted, drawing the massive sword out.

            "Inuyasha you can't destroy the village's fields!" Sango shouted to him, running after the youkai. "They depend on the fields for food!"

            "I'm not stupid!" Inuyasha shouted at her.

            "Could've fooled me," Shippou said. Trying to ease the pain in his hurting ears.

            "What did you say, Shippou? Why don't you come over here and say it?!" Inuyasha yelled at him. Shippou squeaked and quickly hid behind Kagome.

            "Hiraikotsu!" Sango shouted, swinging the massive boomerang at the youkai. The youkai simply changed its form and escaped from the boomerang.

            "My turn!" Inuyasha shouted.

            "Don't destroy the fields!" Miroku warned, running after Inuyasha.

            "Shut up, bouzu!" Inuyasha growled, turning Tessaiga to its side so that it caught the light from the sun. He shone the reflection of the sunlight at the shadow youkai. The youkai screamed, trying to escape from the luminosity.

            "Kagome-sama, please fire an arrow!" Miroku called to her. She nodded, and quickly notched an arrow into her bow, and aimed it at the youkai. She fired, but too late did she realize that the youkai had already moved to a different place, and her arrow was starting to aim at nothing. Inuyasha quickly knocked the arrow out of its trajectory with Tessaiga, causing the demon blade to transform back into a normal sword. The arrow flew off in an arc and finally landed on top of the shadow youkai, destroying it.

            The villagers fell into silence, expecting a mocking voice to start calling out at them, or at least trying to grab one of them. But nothing happened.

            "We defeated it?" asked Sango, afraid that it was a trick like last time.

            "It's gone. I can't sense its youki anymore," Miroku said, scanning the shadows.

            "Yay!" a villager shouted suddenly, and soon many more followed his example.

            "Inuyasha, you did it," Kagome said, running to Inuyasha. 

            "It was your arrow," he said, shrugging it off.

            "But you're the one who knocked it to the youkai," Kagome insisted.

            "You two make an excellent team," the village elder said, suddenly appearing next to them and scaring them both. "Very powerful. You should stay together."

            "What do you know, Jiijii?" Inuyasha asked, forever rude. The old man just laughed, and walked off with his people towards the village. Kagome smiled at Inuyasha, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the village where the others had already gone. _An excellent team, huh? Maybe we are,_ Kagome thought, happy that the old man had said such a thing. It was the best reward that he was able to give, as Miroku soon found out.

**Author's Note: **Since no one is asking about translations of the Japanese terms, I'm going to assume everyone knows what it means. (That way I won't have to be bothered about translating them and can go directly to the story.) Now and again I might translate something that I think is important for you to know, like… For example, "Ryuten." Okay, that's not really a Japanese term, but something I just smashed together. It means "Dragon Sky." Heh heh… He'll try to play out his name.

Other things that you should know, but might not… Fuujin=wind god, and Raijin=thunder/lightning god (I think). Err… I think that's about it for this chapter.

Oh yeah! In response to your review, Chri, I've thought about if Inuyasha would really have no powers if Shippou transformed him, and I've come to the conclusion that he really won't have any powers. Why? The way I figure it, if Shippou can transform himself into a balloon and float down, I think that he gets whatever properties the thing he transformed into has. Does that even make any sense?

And the thing about the day transitions… I'm still working on how to fix that. But maybe I'll just leave it that way? I'll see what my puny brain has to offer.

I'm glad for any type of response you people have to offer, so don't be afraid to type on your keyboard!


	4. To Search, To Hide

**A God's Game**

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**Author's Note: **Hello, Reincarnation! I realize what you're saying in the last review, and I totally agree! However… I have a feeling this story is going to turn out huge, and right now, you're barely grazing the surface of it. I suppose, even though this is going to be the fourth chapter of this story, you're still in the set up. I'm still setting the stage for the main plot, which is why Kagome and Inuyasha are kind of weird right now. I'm trying to steer them in a certain direction so that what will happen will be believable. So please bear with me a little more, okay?

And Spectrum… Actually, Kagome's friend that I had in mind wasn't the curly haired one. I wasn't sure if the three really had names, and in the anime, Kagome just keeps calling all three names at the same time, so I assigned names for each face. And I figured that Ayumi was the girl with short hair and the yellow hair band. I don't know why… Must be an influence from the Ayumi in Detective Conan. But then I just saw the episode where Kagome's friends call the curly haired girl "Ayumi," which was not the person I had in mind. So please, if you know the name of the girl with the yellow hair band, would you mind telling me? Is it "Eri" or "Yuka?"

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**Chapter IV: To Search, To Hide**

            She sat in a chair, overlooking the pale landscape of the moon. Tonight would be a new moon, and her powers would soon fade away with the coming of night. She sighed, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Four hundred years and she hadn't changed one bit. She had neither grown younger, nor become older. Her imprisonment had left her to rot in this land that was once her home, and the infinite calmness that she was known to possess was starting to wear thin. She could not stand it anymore. She could not understand how she was ever able to bear with this kind of prison before.

            She looked at the smooth surface of the mirror and wondered what had become of her son. Surely he was still alive? It had only been four hundred years, so surely he would not have died yet? But would he still remember her, the mother who had promised to watch over him, the mother who even now was still searching for him?

            She wondered how he looked now. Did he grow to look like her, or did he grow to look like his father? He would look in his mid-twenties now, depending on the speed of his aging, and she wondered if her son had gotten married. She wondered what kind of person he had become. Had he become someone cruel, bitter about his past? Or had he become nicer for it, stronger for the past that had been forced upon him?

            There were so many questions that she wanted answered, that she could never have answered until she met him. She had to meet her son, face to face, even if it meant breaking out of this eternal prison.

            "Hime-sama," Ichiro said, walking quickly to her side. "I've got the mirror from Kintaro. You should be able to find him now."

            "Thank you, Ichiro," she said, taking the small, golden mirror from his hands. "How do you work it?" she asked, fingering the delicate mirror.

            "Just say the name of what it is you're looking for, and give some sort of description so that the mirror can pinpoint who it is," he said, looking unsure of himself. "I think that's what Kintaro said."

            "Let us try it, shall we?" she asked, hope starting to appear in this dismal plane. Ichiro nodded, looking nervous as he always was. "Inuyasha. Hanyou. Human. Black hair. Lavender eyes. Mmm… Red fire rat coat," she said, trying to imagine what other characteristics were needed for the mirror to operate. Suddenly the surface of the mirror swirled, showing brief scenes of forests, fields and mountains, and finally stopped at a forest with the sun setting behind an especially large tree.

            She peered eagerly into the mirror as the view started to change, getting closer to some sort of brown protrusion in a small clearing. It looked like some sort of well, and there were two people standing next to it. One was a girl with shoulder length hair, wearing a very strange kimono, and the other… The other was…

            "Inuyasha," she whispered, her eyes watering with tears as she saw her son for the first time in four hundred years. He still had the same dark, long hair, and he was still wearing the red fire rat coat that his father had given him. Suddenly, the girl jumped into the well, and he followed her.

            "What is he doing?" asked Ichiro in surprise, looking at the mirror. That was what she wanted to know. Why would two sane people jump into a well for no reason? It couldn't be that they wanted to suicide, could it?

            The mirror swirled and followed the two into the dark well. She almost caught a glimpse of her son's face, but it was soon gone, replaced by a blinding bluish-violet light, and soon, all images were lost.

            "What just happened?" Ichiro asked, for once forgetting to be respectful to the princess.

            "Return this mirror to Kintaro-san," she said, handing the mirror to Ichiro. "I do not need it anymore."

            "You know where they are, Hime-sama?" he asked, surprised. For a moment, she did not answer.

            "Goshinboku…" she said mostly to herself. "I never imagined that I would one day return to that place."

            The princess closed her eyes, facing the dark sky of the austere moon, remembering the place where her true life began, and where she had sealed the pact to her fate.

            Ichiro watched her without understanding, but did as the princess commanded, excusing himself inconspicuously and slipping out of the princess' prison to return the borrowed mirror. He did not know what the princess was planning, but he had a feeling that the tapestry of fate was beginning to weave a tale that would soon fall out of the control of any divine force, rendering the established system to be nothing but a shadow of the past. Ichiro shivered, unsure if it was because of the cold and indifferent landscape of the moon, or if it was because of the anxiety he felt for the events that were to come.

            "What is it, Raijin?" he asked, slightly annoyed that the god of thunder had arrived late.

            "I've found someone that may be suitable for your purposes," the god said in a rumbling voice.

            "Fuujin has already claimed to have found someone," he said, carefully polishing his sword.

            "Fuujin, eh?" he laughed. "I'm sure mine is better than his."

            "Is that so?" he asked, his voice uncaring.

            "Of course, Ryuten-sama," he said, starting to get concerned that his master was not listening to him. "He is a youkai."

            "A youkai?" asked Ryuten disdainfully. "That may be worse than a hanyou."

            "Hanyou?" asked Raijin, unsure of what his master was speaking of. "Well, this man may be considered a hanyou."

            "What?" asked Ryuten, wondering why there were so many hanyou in the world all of a sudden. And supposedly these two hanyou were supposed to be better than either humans or youkai?

            "His name is Naraku. He is a human that has willingly merged with many youkai," the god of thunder said, feeling proud. "He can change his form to suit his purposes, and he has a sharp mind. I've never really seen him fight, but his servants are powerful. He is currently searching for the Shikon no Tama, and it looks like he may actually complete it."

            "He seems to be the leader of an organization," Ryuten said calmly, already knowing his answer.

            "Well, yes, but…"

            "You fool," he snarled. "If we get someone who is the leader, don't you think that he'll rebel against us? Why do you think I told you not to search for people who are the head of clans? If we wanted someone powerful, we could have taken any number of youkai already."

            "You mean people like Sesshoumaru?" asked Raijin, who immediately shut his mouth when he saw his master's expression.

            "Go help Fuujin in his quest and if he needs you to help capture Inuyasha, then do it," he finally said, tired of the bumbling idiot before him. The god of thunder immediately followed his instructions, afraid to get his lord angrier.

            There was a soft knock on the door, and Ryuten gestured with his hand, causing the door to slowly open.

            "Ryuten-sama, your sword is ready, as you ordered it to be," the metal smith said, presenting the lord with the sword.

            "Another fine work, Kintaro," he said, looking at the shiny new blade before him. The blade almost seemed to flow like water beneath the surface of the hard, silver metal. "One of my servants has already paid you. You'll find your payment when you return to your home."

            "Many thanks, Ryuten-sama," he said, exiting the door quietly. Finally he had a blade that was worthy of his soon-to-be stature.

            "Inuyasha, I really think you should do as Kagome-sama asks you," Miroku said, sitting across the fire in Kaede's hut.

            "Yeah, Inuyasha. You would be safer at Kagome's world," Sango said. _Not to mention you'll get some quiet time with her. _

            "I've always lived in this world. Why should I go to Kagome's world all of a sudden?" asked Inuyasha, getting annoyed with their argument. They had started arguing since morning, and now the sun was already getting ready to set.

            "Come on, Inuyasha. It won't be that bad," Kagome said, trying to force him to go with her.

            "Keh," he said, facing away from her. He didn't want to leave. Why couldn't they understand that?

            "Inuyasha, it's dangerous here, so you really should go with Kagome," Shippou said, tugging at his sleeve.

            "It's not more dangerous than it always has been," he said, making a strong point. Miroku sighed.

            "Inuyasha, are you afraid of staying at Kagome's world?" Shippou asked tauntingly.

            "Shut up, you stupid brat," he said, bonking Shippou away. So what if he was afraid? Who wasn't? Kagome's world was filled with the strangest of things, not to mention that it smelled terrible. About the only place he could stand was Kagome's room, and he didn't want to deprive Kagome of her bed like last time he had accidentally fallen asleep there. And what about Kagome's family? If he went to that world, Kagome would make him be "polite" and "civil," which was something he couldn't do well when he started to get afraid or nervous.

            "Inuyasha," Kagome said in that warning tone of hers. Shippou was hiding behind Kagome, away from Inuyasha's fists. He felt his senses go dull and his ears shrink away as he slowly transformed into a human. His long claws soon disappeared to be replaced by soft fingernails. But none of it was noticed by Kagome, who was trying to get Shippou to stop crying. "Osuwari."

            The weight of his rosary felt heavier than usual as it forced his body down, nearly breaking his neck. His entire body felt as if it was going to be crushed by some invisible weight as he felt the air squeezed out of his lungs. It was several more times painful to be sat as a human than as a hanyou. At least his hanyou body had been strong enough to withstand this pressure, but now it felt as if it was crushing him to death. Suddenly, the weight disappeared, and he was left breathing hard, trying to get back his lost wind.

            "Inuyasha, I'm so sorry!" Kagome said, as she realized what she had done. She never thought that the rosary would work when he was human; after all, wasn't it only supposed to suppress his demon side? But seeing him sprawled on the ground, unable to move had definitely enlightened her. She quickly helped him up, and felt guilty as she saw him trying to regain his breath.

            "I thought the rosary only works to suppress his youkai side," Miroku said, voicing Kagome's question.

            "Idiot," Inuyasha said between gasps. "Just because I'm human right now doesn't mean I've lost my youkai blood."

            "That's right," Sango said. "No matter what happens, he'll always have both human and youkai blood in him."

            "Who would have thought that the rosary works better on him when he's human?" Miroku wondered out loud, getting a growl from Inuyasha, which sounded less menacing than usual.

            "Kagome, you can make Inuyasha go to your world by threatening to 'sit' him," Shippou said eagerly, making Inuyasha angry. Kagome knew that she could never bring herself to do such a thing, even if she really wanted Inuyasha to go with her.

            "I'm outta here," Inuyasha said, grabbing Tessaiga and walking out of the door.

            "But Inuyasha!" Kagome called out, grabbing her backpack and running after him.

            "Houshi-sama, we should go after him, just in case," Sango said, afraid that a youkai might attack Inuyasha while he was in his weakened state.

            "No," he said, still calmly sitting in his place. "If we don't distract them, Inuyasha will definitely do as Kagome wants him to. But if we're there, he might be more stubborn than usual, especially when he feels weak."

            "Inuyasha is always being more reckless when he's a human than when he's a hanyou," Shippou said, sounding wise. "It must be that his human side has suffered some sort of brain damage," he said, his words sounding intelligent, but really not intelligent at all.

            "Or maybe he only has half of his usual judgment with him," Miroku joked.

            "And with the amount of judgment Inuyasha usually has, that doesn't amount to much," Shippou said, laughing.

            "Stop being so mean," Sango said, unbelieving of how immature the two boys in front of her were. "Can't you tell? He's afraid to go to Kagome's world."

            "Inuyasha, afraid of a little thing like that?" asked Miroku.

            "He's gone to Kagome's world lots of times," Shippou said. "Why should he be afraid now?"

            "Think about it," Sango said. "He's never really had a family until now. How do you think he'll feel when he's forced to stay with Kagome's family? Wouldn't he feel awkward? And he'll be staying with people he won't really know, other than the fact that they're related to Kagome.

            "He's been alone for quite some time, if my guesses are right," Sango continued in a softer voice. "And didn't you say that he was shy, Houshi-sama? So for Inuyasha to put away his years of distrust and go with Kagome is more than just difficult for him. Because he's probably afraid… Afraid of what Kagome's family will say if they should decide that they don't want him staying there." _Kind of like Kohaku afraid to face his memories because of his fear of what everyone will say to him… In a way, Inuyasha is running away from whatever happened to him in the past. That's why he doesn't want to go. Perhaps he doesn't want to hear people reject him for being a hanyou anymore, that's why… That's why he is how he is._

            "That was very insightful, Sango," Miroku said, his voice sounding serious. Even Shippou had fallen silent. Sango laughed.

            "Of course I'm just guessing," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

            "You may be right, though," Miroku said.__

_            Could I be right? I was only seeing Inuyasha's reasoning as how I would see Kohaku's reasoning, _she thought. She smiled gently. _Inuyasha would get angry if he knew that I was treating him like my younger brother, but I guess I really do treat him that way now, don't I? Sometimes he acts so naïve that it scares me, and I wonder what exactly he's learned in his life. _

            She looked at Miroku and Shippou, sitting across from her, trying to cook their dinner. _Shippou-chan's become a little brother to me, and I can't believe that I have also come to think of Inuyasha that way. They are both nothing like Kohaku, especially Inuyasha and his foul words, but somehow, they've become a part of me now. I wonder if I would be so willing to lay my life down for any of them as I would for Kohaku?_

            "What is it, Sango?" asked Miroku, concerned about her.

            "Nothing at all, Houshi-sama," she said, not wanting him to worry. She didn't have to worry about anything. As long as Inuyasha was there, they would all be safe, and maybe, just maybe, one day she would finally be able to get Kohaku back, just as Inuyasha had said they would.

            She stared at the flames dancing in the center of the room and smiled. _Inuyasha, no matter how tough you try to act, you always give yourself away… _

            "Come on, Inuyasha, _Please?_" asked Kagome. She had tried bribing him, making empty promises at him, but nothing was working. Even ramen wasn't working, and she was starting to get tired from trying to convince Inuyasha. But this was a perfect chance for her to get her grandfather to know him. If he looked like a hanyou, her grandfather might be a bit prejudiced in his judgment, but maybe if Inuyasha looked like this, he would be a little more open-minded. Besides, she absolutely had to get him to her world. She had promised Eri that Inuyasha was coming tonight, and she wouldn't break her promise, no matter what.

            "Inuyasha, what are you afraid of?" she asked, just pouring out questions at this point. She didn't expect him to react, since he hadn't reacted to her other questions, so she was surprised when he stopped suddenly.

            "Nothing," he said, starting to walk again. She was about to open her mouth and ask him to tell the truth, but decided against it. Who gave her the right to pry in other people's business, anyway? If Inuyasha wanted to tell her, he would tell her when he was ready, however reluctant he would be. But Kagome had a guess that maybe Inuyasha was afraid to stay in her world? Maybe he was afraid to be there with her family? Perhaps that was why he never bothered to seek them out. He always seemed to avoid her mother and grandfather, and Kagome wondered…

            "Inuyasha," she said in a soft voice, causing Inuyasha to stop and look at her. "How about this? We go to my world, and I show you around. If you don't like it, we come directly back here? Is that all right with you? That way, you won't have to stay in my world if you don't feel comfortable there."

            He looked at the ground, seeming to consider his options. She walked closer to him and held his hand.

            "I promise, okay?" she asked. Finally Inuyasha nodded, and she led Inuyasha to the well, happy that he had finally agreed. She wouldn't let anyone try and hurt him, even if that meant glaring down her grandfather.

            They arrived at the well, and Kagome felt a strange feeling arise in her. She felt as if she was being watched. She quickly jumped into the well, followed by Inuyasha, and as soon as the strange light of the well engulfed them both, the feeling was gone. She had probably just imagined it.

            They appeared on the other side of the well, Kagome almost jumping with glee. Maybe she should warn Inuyasha about Eri, but decided not to. Inuyasha showed more of his true feelings when he was surprised.

            "You go first," Kagome said, pointing to the ladder. "That way, you can help me carry the backpack up when you're up there."

            "Fine," he said, climbing the ladder quickly. "Throw me your bag," he said once he was up there.

            "You think I'm that strong?" asked Kagome. "Don't you know how many books are in my bag?"

            "Feh!" he said, reaching down and hoisting her backpack up with one arm as she held it up to him. She hadn't really expected him to be able to lift it up as a human, but Inuyasha had surprised her again.

            "Okay," she said, climbing up the ladder, and reaching out for the bag.

            "I'll carry it," he said, surprising her yet again. "It's the least I can do since you're inviting me to your house to stay." She had to stare at Inuyasha for a moment before she could force herself back to her senses. Inuyasha was being…polite? Maybe that Yuki-hime hadn't been so wrong about Inuyasha.

            "Okay," she said again, starting to walk towards her house. "Uh… Remember to be polite, okay? And don't teach Souta any bad words," she added as an afterthought. Inuyasha snorted in reply. _Okay, maybe not **that** polite._

            "Remember your manners," she said as she slowly opened the door of the house. "Tadaima."

            "Okaeri nasai, Kagome, Inuyasha," a voice called from within. Inuyasha was too surprised by what Mrs. Higurashi had said to notice that Kagome's mother had known he would be arriving _before_ he arrived. Kagome looked at Inuyasha's surprised expression and wondered if he had figured out that she had told her family to get ready for his visit, but seeing as he wasn't angry with her yet, she figured that he probably hadn't figured it out yet. _But why the surprise? _she wondered. _All Mama said was… _She paused. _All she said was "welcome home..." "Welcome home." _She looked at Inuyasha, who was starting to frown again, and felt the sadness that she always felt when she found out a little more about him. _Had his Okaa-san never told him? Of course, he was too young to have left her protection anyway…_

            "Inu-nii-chan," Souta said, bounding towards the door. He stopped suddenly as he saw that there seemed to be someone else there.

            "Kagome, bring Inuyasha to the restroom so that you both can wash—" Mrs. Higurashi said, walking to the door to greet them. She stopped in shock as she took in the image of the person before her. "…your hands," she finished, still staring at Inuyasha. Kagome smiled at her mother's questioning eyes. It took a lot for her mother to be shocked speechless.

            "What's going on? Why are you all standing out in the—" Kagome's grandfather said, walking out of the dining room. He was also shocked into silence when he saw the "youkai" standing before him. Inuyasha shifted nervously under the family's scrutiny.

            "I'll take Inuyasha to the restroom now," Kagome said, trying not to smile, and pretending not to notice her family's shocked expressions. She took Inuyasha's hand. "Follow me," she said, pulling him towards the sink. She could feel the confused eyes of her family watching them both as she headed to the restroom.

            She opened the faucet of the sink, and handed Inuyasha the bar of soap.

            "What's this?" he asked, looking at the soap funny. He sniffed it. "It smells like you, Kagome," he said, still trying to puzzle out the use of the soap. Kagome blushed and quickly bent down to take a towel out from the cupboard below.

            "It's soap," she said, rising when she was sure her face had returned to its normal color. "It's used with water to make your hands cleaner."

            " 'Soo-puu?'" he asked, looking at the thing distrustfully. "What is it made of?"

            "Err… I don't really know," said Kagome, starting to wash her hands, and using the soap to demonstrate for Inuyasha. "But it works. Here, try."

            Inuyasha wetted his hands like Kagome did, and tried to take the soap, only to have it slip out of his hands.

            "What the—!"

            "Here, let me—" Kagome said, grabbing the soap in her hands. She took Inuyasha's hands, trying to keep her cheeks from heating up, and rubbed the soap on his hands. "Rub your hands together until you can see bubbles. Yeah, that's right," she said as Inuyasha slowly rubbed his hands together. But he was rubbing so slowly that it would take all night for him to just finish washing his hands.

            "Here, let me help you," Kagome said, walking to Inuyasha's side and helping him rub his hands together. She put his hands under the faucet of the sink, and helped him wash the soap out. "All done," she said, handing him a towel. She tried not to smile as she saw that Inuyasha had a tiny hint of a blush on his cheeks.

            "Kagome, Inuyasha, hurry up," her mother called out, obviously recovered from her initial shock. She led Inuyasha to the living room, taking a brief glance at the door and noticing an extra pair of girls' shoes by the door. So, Eri had arrived.

            "Mama, what are we eating—" Kagome started.

            "So _this _is Inuyasha!" Eri said, jumping up from her seat to take a closer look of Inuyasha. Inuyasha backed up a step at her sudden close proximity. She grinned foolishly at Kagome. "I'll talk to you later," she mouthed, returning to her seat, but not taking her eyes off Inuyasha.

            "Oh, I almost forgot," Kagome said, looking at Inuyasha nervously. She hoped he wasn't angry with her yet, and was surprised to see that he had visibly become more nervous. Maybe she should have kept Eri away until Inuyasha was a little more used to her world?

            "This is Eri, she's my friend," Kagome said. "Eri, like you guessed, this is Inuyasha."

            "But Kagome, you said—" Eri started to say.

            "Why is Inu-nii-chan look like a human now?" Souta said, beating Eri to it.

            "It's the new moon tonight, and since Inuyasha is a hanyou, tonight is his night to become human," Kagome said, knowing that Inuyasha would never bother to explain it to them. She looked nervously at Inuyasha, who was starting to look pissed. _I guess more people know his secret now, _she thought, smiling nervously at him.

            "Sit down, you two," Mrs. Higurashi said. "You can talk while you eat." Kagome noticed that her mother had taken the big table out, the one that they had used to use when her father was still there. She sat down on the mat next to her grandfather, gesturing for Inuyasha to sit next to her. He took his seat reluctantly, trying to ignore Eri, who was sitting directly across from him. Souta grinned as he realized he was the one who got to sit on Inuyasha's left side.

            "We're having ramen tonight," Mrs. Higurashi said, taking six steaming bowls out from the kitchen. She placed the bowl in front of everyone carefully, and set the chopsticks next to them. "Kagome told me that you liked ramen, Inuyasha, so I decided to make some home cooked ones for you," she said, smiling at Inuyasha's apparent discomfort.

            "Wow, it's so good," Eri said, already starting on her noodles. "I'll have to ask for the recipe."

            "Thank you, Eri," Mrs. Higurashi said, also starting on her noodles. Inuyasha started eating his more slowly than he usually would have done. He felt so out of place, and awkward, as if everyone was watching him. He hated eating before strangers that he had to be nice to. He should have just not come in the first place. Just eating was making him nervous. And how dare Kagome tell people that he liked ramen?! Sure, his friends knew, but why did she have to go and tell the whole world? And this Eri person… How did _she_ know about him? Was Kagome talking behind his back? He wondered what other things that Kagome had said about him when he wasn't there, but decided that it was pointless to guess anyway. After all, he really wasn't important enough to be the topic of a conversation.

            "How do you like it?" asked Mrs. Higurashi, surprising him. He thought for a moment. This ramen that Kagome's mother cooked really did taste better.

            "It's good," he said, not quite sure if such a response was adequate.

            "You haven't cooked this since _he_ died," Kagome's grandfather said. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him.

            "I just thought that no one wanted to eat it," Mrs. Higurashi said, unfazed. "But since you like it so much, I'll cook it more often," she said, smiling. "And if you want, Inuyasha, I can cook it every time you come to visit us," she said, openly inviting him to stay. Kagome looked at Inuyasha, who couldn't suppress a small smile creeping over his face, and she smiled in response. Her mother always knew what to say to make people feel better.

            "Mama, do you have any more?" asked Kagome, done with her bowl and wanting more. Inuyasha probably wanted to eat more too.

            "Yes, it's in the kitchen," Mrs. Higurashi said.

            "Inuyasha, do you want me to get you some more?" asked Kagome.

            "Uh… Sure," he said, as Kagome took his bowl without waiting for a response. "Thank you." Kagome smiled. Inuyasha was certainly behaving himself tonight. As she walked out towards the kitchen, she could see Eri wink at her. She hoped that girl wasn't getting any ideas into her head.

            "So, you're from the Sengoku Jidai," Eri said, looking at Inuyasha.

            "So what?" he asked without malice.

            "How's life over there?" asked Eri, not quite sure how to get him into a conversation.

            "Bloody," he replied. She sighed. This was harder than talking to a rock. How was she supposed to find out if Inuyasha was worthy of Kagome, if this was all the response that he would give? She figured that there had to be some secret part of him that Kagome liked, otherwise there was no reason for Kagome to like someone who was two-timing her.

            "Inu-nii-chan, have you found more Shikon shards?" asked Souta, wanting to know more about what Inuyasha did in the other world.

            "Yeah, we have," Inuyasha replied, remembering the recent shard that Kagome had found. Was the Shikon no Tama near complete now? What would happen once all the pieces were collected? Would Kagome no longer come to the Sengoku Jidai? Would that mean…that he would no longer be able to see Kagome?

            Eri saw Inuyasha frown as he answered Souta's question, and she wondered why. Wasn't he happy that this jewel that they had been trying to fix for a year was finally going to be completed? Then everything would be able to return to normal, and Kagome would…

            Eri paused in her thoughts and realized what Inuyasha was thinking. _When the jewel is completed, would Kagome still go back to that time period? She wouldn't have any more reason to stay there, _Eri thought, but she knew better. _She would have no reason other than the fact that Inuyasha and the rest of her friends are there. As long as they are still alive, as long as she is able to, Kagome will definitely go back to the Sengoku Jidai, _Eri thought to herself. She knew for a fact that Kagome would never willingly leave Inuyasha behind. But it seemed to her that Inuyasha was unsure of Kagome, unsure of how Kagome would react once their mission was complete.

            "Inuyasha, you should find those shards quickly so that Kagome can have a peaceful world to travel to," Eri said, smiling, and surprising Inuyasha.

            "What the h—What are you talking about?" Inuyasha said gruffly, omitting the little vulgarity that he was about to use.

            "Oh, nothing," Eri said, not wanting to place all the pieces of the puzzle in front of Inuyasha. If he really loved Kagome, then he should be able to figure out for himself what she had meant.

            "Here you go!" Kagome said cheerfully, entering the room with two steaming bowls of ramen. She placed one bowl in front of Inuyasha and the other in front of her own seat.

            "Hey, Kagome," Eri said slyly, "Why don't you learn how to cook ramen? Then you can cook for Inuyasha whenever he's hungry."

            "Eh, heh heh," Kagome laughed nervously. She was going to kill Eri when she had the chance.

            "That's a great idea, Eri," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Kagome, whenever you want to learn, you can just ask me."

            "Thanks," Kagome said, trying not to look at Inuyasha's face. He would probably scorn her cooking. _Besides, Kikyo probably cooked much better than me anyway, _Kagome thought to herself, downing the bowl of ramen.

            "Kagome, you shouldn't eat so fast," her grandfather said. "Do you remember the time you choked on that bowl of rice?" She smiled in acknowledgement as she continued eating at the same pace. She had thought that this little dinner was going to be embarrassing for Inuyasha, but she had never thought that her own family and friends were going to embarrass her in front of Inuyasha. _And Jii-chan… Why did he have to bring that up? _she thought, trying to tune everything out. Then she started choking.

            "Kagome, are you all right?" asked Eri in concern as Kagome started coughing. Kagome shook her head, trying to reassure that she was fine, but Eri could see tears start to form at her eyes. Suddenly Inuyasha patted Kagome's back with more than a little force, and Kagome started to suck in breaths of air, her throat clear again.

            "Stupid girl," Inuyasha said in what sounded like annoyance, but what Eri thought was concern. "You should take your grandfather's advice."

            "What? Even you're teasing me?" Kagome asked, embarrassed and irritated. _Great. Just great. Choke in front of Inuyasha, why don't you? What's next? Slip on a bar of soap and fall in the mud? _she thought. 

            "Inu-nii-chan isn't teasing you," Souta said, grinning at his sister's tomato-like face. "He's just concerned about you."

            "Now, don't embarrass your sister, Souta," Eri said, hiding a smile, and catching the glare that Kagome shot at her. Kagome expected Inuyasha to say that he wasn't concerned about her, but his retort never came.

            "Ah, Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi said, picking up all of the empty bowls. "We've just bought a Western-style chess set. Perhaps you and Jii-chan would like to play a game?" 

            "S-Sure," Inuyasha replied, wondering what was a Western-style chess set.

            "Great," Mrs. Higurashi said, heading towards the kitchen. "Kagome, Eri, would you mind very much if you helped me with the dishes?" 

            "No problem, Mama," Kagome said. Eri seemed more than happy to oblige, but Kagome knew that the reason Eri wanted to go to the kitchen was not to wash dishes, but to discuss things concerning a certain guest at her house.

            The three entered the kitchen, and Mrs. Higurashi started washing the dishes while Eri dried them and Kagome put them back on the shelves. After a few moments of silence, Eri finally spoke.

            "Kagome, he's so much cuter than I expected!" she all but squealed. "He almost makes me wish I were in your place!"

            "Don't exaggerate, Eri," Kagome said, knowing that her position wasn't exactly the easiest in the world.

            "Well, I should say the same of you," Eri said. "You said that he was rude, but he's been nice all evening, almost," she said, remembering certain times where he didn't seem very friendly. But not being friendly and being hostile were too very different things, especially when it concerned Inuyasha.

            "I'm surprised myself that he's been polite all evening," Kagome said, remembering all the times in the Sengoku Jidai when Inuyasha couldn't go one second without cussing.

            "He must be acting nice to impress your family," Eri joked. "Like I said, Kagome, first comes—"

            "Eri!" Kagome shouted indignantly. Didn't the girl know that her mother was in the room? The last thing she needed was for Eri to be running around saying that she was going to marry Inuyasha. Kagome wasn't sure if her mother would mind, but she didn't want her family to get any ideas. _After all, Inuyasha will go with Kikyo when this is all over anyway, _she thought, her spirits dropping.

            "Inuyasha is a very nice boy, isn't he, Kagome?" her mother asked suddenly. Kagome couldn't figure out the tone in her mother's voice.

            "He's not nice all the time," Kagome said, not wanting to give her mother a false picture.

            "But he has a good nature," her mother said gently. "Even Jii-chan knows it." Kagome nodded in agreement, even though she knew her mother wouldn't be able to see it. She wondered why her mother was saying this all of a sudden.

            "I'm glad he's your companion in that world," her mother said, drying her hands on a towel. "I'm finished here. You two girls can go to the living room where Jii-chan is playing chess with Inuyasha."

            "Let's go, Kagome," Eri said, exiting the kitchen before Kagome could say anything. Kagome followed her friend slowly, knowing now that her family trusted Inuyasha. She smiled to herself. At least one of her missions was complete.

            She entered the living room, arriving at the moment when her grandfather defeated Inuyasha by destroying Inuyasha's king with his knight. Kagome saw that most of Inuyasha's pawns were scattered across the board, showing that no strategic planning had taken place. Her grandfather had defeated almost all of Inuyasha's pieces; the only ones remaining were a queen and a bishop, and the fallen king.

            "Hah hah!" her grandfather laughed. "Eat that!"

            "Humph! I was only being easy on you," Inuyasha said. "Let's play another game."

            "We've already played several games," her grandfather said. "Just admit that you lost."

            "No way," Inuyasha said stubbornly.

            "Looks like you're no good at chess," Eri noted.

            "The only thing Inu-nii-chan can do is keep his queen alive," Souta said. "He really knows how to plan his pieces so that the queen is always protected."

            "But too bad he always leaves the king in danger," Kagome's grandfather chuckled.

            "Who cares? I know how to play now, so I challenge you to another game," Inuyasha said determinedly. "And this time, it's your king that's going to be eliminated."

            "All right, boy," her grandfather said, rubbing his hands eagerly. "I'll put you where you belong." Kagome was worried for a moment that the remark would offend Inuyasha, but he didn't seemed to have noticed.

            "C'mon, Jiijii," Inuyasha taunted. "Let's see what you've got."

            "I'll teach you to be disrespectful," her grandfather said in good humor. He moved a pawn out and the game started.

            Ten minutes later, Inuyasha emerged victorious. Kagome had been watching him play, and she noticed that his moves weren't random: they were planned. Each move that he had used was to allow a certain move later on in the game, and her grandfather, she was sorry to say, had lost disgracefully.

            "How can this be?" asked Kagome's grandfather, looking at his defeated pieces. About the only piece left standing that was part of his team was a pawn. Everything else had been removed by Inuyasha's pieces.

            "Heh, told ya," Inuyasha grinned. Kagome couldn't help but smile at Inuyasha's victory.

            "Don't get cocky, boy," her grandfather grumped.

            "How did you do that?" asked Eri, mentally correcting her previous statement.

            "Just watch how he plays and anyone can guess his next move," Inuyasha said. Kagome was surprised. She had always thought that Inuyasha relied on his gut instinct, never planning things, or taking consequences into consideration. With his victory, Kagome wondered if that was the case.

            "Jii-chan, please move these boxes out of the closet and into the storage room, please," Mrs. Higurashi called out. Kagome's grandfather got up with a grunt and exited the room.

            "I'll play you later," he promised Inuyasha, still in disbelief that he had lost.

            "Inu-nii-chan, why don't we play this?" asked Souta, holding out what looked like pieces of paper.

            "He doesn't want to play those stupid things," Kagome said, not wanting Souta to annoy Inuyasha.

            "How do you know?" retorted Souta. He turned to Inuyasha. "C'mon. Let's play."

            "What is this?" asked Inuyasha as Souta handed him half of the cards. " 'Yu-gi-oh?'"

            "Yeah! They're really cool!" Souta said as he began explaining the complicated rules of the card game. Kagome decided to turn the TV on, gesturing for Eri to sit next to her. The sound from the TV drowned out the noise the Souta and Inuyasha were making.

            "He's so cute, playing with your little brother like that," Eri whispered. "You're so lucky, Kagome."

            "Sure," Kagome said sarcastically, sighing a bit.

            "Kagome, no matter what happens, you shouldn't let him go," Eri said with conviction. Kagome was surprised by the amount of force behind Eri's words.

            "Eh? What are you talking about?" asked Kagome. She was wondering if she really should have told Eri about everything.

            "I'm still not absolutely sure, but I think that he really likes you," Eri said, ignoring the protests of her blushing friend. "I still have to observe him a bit more, but from what I see, I don't think he'll necessarily be happier with this Kikyo girl you keep talking about." She turned to Kagome. "Think about it this way, Kagome," she said. "Letting Inuyasha go with Kikyo may not be the kindest thing you can do for him."

            "What do you mean?" asked Kagome. If Inuyasha loved Kikyo, who was she to stop him? _He's already chosen Kikyo, _she thought._ What kind of person would I be if I tried to break them up so that he could be by my side? He's chosen Kikyo before me, so there's no point in trying to dissuade him and making him be by someone who is only second place in his heart._

            "You know what I mean," said Eri, still whispering. "If Kikyo is fighting you for his affections, you should fight back!"

            "I can't do that," Kagome said, knowing that she could never bring herself to be Kikyo's rival.

            "Why not?" demanded Eri.__

_            Because I love him. Because I don't want him to get hurt because of me. Because I know I'll lose. I know I can't compare with Kikyo. I don't want to see him sad because I, the one that he thought he could trust, ended up pushing away the woman that he loves. Because… Because… Because they were fated to be together, and it was only because of Naraku that they were broken apart. Because I'm just a third wheel. Lots of reasons… _Many reasons… Kagome didn't say any of them.

            "I don't know," was what she said.

            "Don't you?" asked Eri, looking at her straight in the eye. "Kagome, you're going to have to sort out your own emotions before you do anything else. If you don't, something might happen that you'll regret. You might lose Inuyasha before you're ready," her friend said. "That's what always happens in cases like yours."

            "What are you talking about?" asked Kagome, laughing nervously.

            "Those that hold their silence usually regret it," Eri said. "Just remember that. I know you'll choose what you think is right, but you have to remember that what you _think _is right may not always be the right choice." Eri laughed. "Am I confusing you?"

            "Kind of," said Kagome, knowing that was a special trait of her friend.

            "Sorry. I was just in one of those inspiring moods, you know?" she said, grinning mischievously. "And I think I might just have a little plan to flush out Inuyasha's true feelings."

            "Eh heh heh," Kagome laughed weakly, wondering what devious plan her friend had come up with.

            "Okay, North, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5," Eri said, moving the paper fortuneteller. They were playing an improvised version of the game that Eri had invented herself. "Let's see… Oh, it's Souta's name. That means I get to ask you a question as Souta," Eri said. "When's the next time you're coming back, Inu-nii-chan?" she asked, trying to imitate Souta.

            "I don't sound like that," Souta said.

            "Go to bed," Kagome said to him, shooing him out of the room. Souta left reluctantly, knowing that his sister and her friend were planning something that didn't include his being there.

            "Uh… When I come to pick up Kagome," Inuyasha answered awkwardly. He didn't really like this game, but seeing as it was Kagome's friend and he was supposed to be nice and polite, he really didn't have a choice. That girl, Eri, would ask him a compass direction, then a number between one and ten, and then she would start counting until she reached the number, opening the paper fortuneteller to reveal the name hidden inside, and then she would ask him a question as that person whose name appeared.

            "That's an okay answer, I guess," Eri said. "Okay, next one. Direction? Number?"

            "Um… South, seven," Inuyasha said randomly.

            "Hey, Inuyasha, want a drink?" asked Kagome, distracting him from looking at the paper fortuneteller and guessing who the next name was.

            "I don't really care," Inuyasha said.

            "Okay then," Kagome said, feeling slightly guilty for helping Eri cheat. Her friend had everything planned out, and Kagome was supposed to distract Inuyasha when she gave the signal, so that she could switch the paper fortunetellers to ask a question from the person that she wanted to ask the question as. Kagome saw a small flower stamp on a corner of the paper, and knew that this particular sheet contained only her name.

            "Hey, what do you know?" exclaimed Eri. "It's Kagome's name. Okay, here's the question," Eri said excitedly. Kagome hoped that Eri wasn't going to embarrass her. "Why do you insist on saving me at the risk of your own life?" Both Inuyasha and Kagome were surprised by the question. Kagome had thought that Eri was going to ask Inuyasha if he liked her or not, and was already getting ready to strangle the girl, but she had not expected a question like this. She turned to Inuyasha, wondering how he would respond.

            "Are you stupid?" asked Inuyasha. "Kagome is my Tama detector. Without her, we can't find anymore pieces of the Shikon no Tama." _And because I don't want Kagome to be hurt. I wouldn't be able to stand it if I knew that Kagome would no longer be able to be by my side, if Kagome were dead. At this point, the only reason I care about Shikon shards is because as long as the Shikon no Tama is broken, Kagome will always go back to the Sengoku Jidai…and be by my side. _

But he didn't say any of this. There was a part of him, a large part of him that was still afraid to trust, to give all of his heart away. Even Kikyo had never fully held his heart; he was only going to do as she had said because he felt that he owed her at least that much, and because a part of him felt that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to mend the scars that had formed between them. And because he had to do just that, he couldn't tell Kagome anything. He couldn't give any more clues that he… That he…

"Oyasumi nasai, Inuyasha," Kagome said angrily, stomping out of the room. Eri watched her go in silence. Just as she had planned. Now she could really interrogate Inuyasha without any distractions.

"Okay, Inuyasha. Let's continue," she said pleasantly, secretly switching to another paper fortuneteller. "Direction and number, please."

"Uh… West, four," Inuyasha said, feeling guilty about what he had said. Eri narrowed her eyes as she began to count. She usually wasn't a superstitious person, but west and four? Those weren't good things in her book. Everyone knew that four symbolized death. But west… Though no book had ever said that the west symbolized some sort of ill omen, in Eri's mind, west meant the end of something. West was the direction that the sun disappeared, and with the sun, the light of life would vanish, leaving only something that was best not thought about.

"Hmm… Kikyo," Eri said, noticing that Inuyasha immediately stiffened up. "Why…do you insist on following me even though I've rejected you so many times?" Eri asked, not bothering with tact. Inuyasha was silent. Eri waited, not really expecting an answer.

"Listen to me, Inuyasha," Eri said, dropping the paper fortuneteller. "I'm not going to play this game anymore, but I want you to answer truthfully. Why are you going after Kikyo? She's already pushed you away so many times, if what Kagome says is true. If I were in your position, I would have left her long ago." She waited for a response from Inuyasha, any kind of response. Finally, after a few minutes, he started to talk.

"You aren't me, so don't bother trying to put yourself in my position," Inuyasha said. Eri noticed that he didn't say it with anger or irritation, but rather he had sounded tired.

"Why?" asked Eri in a soft voice, not wanting to give up. She was close to something here, and if Inuyasha would cooperate, then she would— 

"I don't know why," Inuyasha said getting up. "Maybe because I feel guilty. Maybe I owe her. Maybe I think that I can still get her to calm her hatred, and become friends again, like we had been before. Then again, maybe I'm just a stubborn idiot who doesn't know when to quit." Eri was about to open her mouth to protest, but Inuyasha didn't let her. "Oyasumi, Eri. I'll see you in the morning." He walked out of the room, heading towards the room that Kagome had showed him before the little question game had started. 

Eri waited until she heard the door to the guest room close before she collected the paper fortunetellers and threw them in the trash. She looked at the time. One o'clock in the morning. She smiled. It was usually late at night or early morning when people started to spill their emotions and worries, revealing what they normally would not. It seemed to her that Inuyasha had just done the same. She closed the light to the living room, her mission successful.

"Kagome?" she whispered, looking at the form in the sleeping bag. Kagome didn't respond. Eri looked closer at Kagome, and saw that her eyes were closed. Was she sleeping? She listened carefully to Kagome's breathing, and immediately knew that her friend was only pretending. Her breathing did not sound deep and slow as it should be if Kagome had really been sleeping.

"Well, Kagome, I've solved your little problem for you," Eri said, getting into Kagome's bed and pulling the covers over her. "Inuyasha is definitely in love with you. He's just not sure of it yet."

"Yeah, he loves me for being a Tama detector," Kagome said bitterly, finally responding. She knew that it wasn't true, but she was having a hard time keeping everything inside her. She had to keep hiding the majority of her emotions from Inuyasha so that he wouldn't be sad, and she was starting to get tired.

"I know you don't believe that, Kagome," her friend said. Kagome didn't say anything.

"Didn't you notice that Inuyasha said '_we_ can't find anymore pieces of the Shikon no Tama?' He said 'we,' not 'I,'" Eri said, remembering Inuyasha's exact words.

"You read too much into things," Kagome said, not wanting to get her hopes up. _Inuyasha will go with Kikyo because he loves her… And I will be there to stop her from taking Inuyasha's soul to Hell, _Kagome thought, pulling the covers closer around her._ At that time, I wonder, Inuyasha… Will you hate me for stopping Kikyo? _But even if Inuyasha would become mad at her, Kagome was sure of her decision. She would never allow Inuyasha to die, especially not by Kikyo's hand.

"Maybe I do read too much into things, but maybe you should do it, too," Eri said, frowning. "I think you already know that Inuyasha loves you, but you're just not sure how much, right?" her friend asked. Kagome didn't respond. She knew that Inuyasha loved her, otherwise why would he go through so much trouble to protect her all the time? It was just the fact that he would never choose her, Kagome, before Kikyo, a woman who was long dead, and should stay dead.

Kagome stopped her thoughts quickly. _I truly have become a horrible person, _she thought, sighing. _Kikyo… Sometimes, you just make me so mad! _she thought, clenching her fists in anger. _And sometimes… Sometimes I envy you. To have Inuyasha run to you at every call you give him, leaving his friends behind… Kikyo, do you know how fortunate you are? _Kagome closed her eyes, trying to sleep, but her mind wouldn't let her.

"Kagome?" asked Eri tentatively, wondering if her friend had fallen asleep.

"Don't worry about it, Eri," Kagome said. "Inuyasha and I… We are still a long ways from reaching a point where a decision is needed. So for now, let's leave it as it is, okay?" asked Kagome. Eri fell silent, knowing that Kagome was no longer opening that topic up for discussion. She could only hope that when the time came, her friend would choose the right path, and save both herself and Inuyasha from unnecessary grief.


	5. A Test of Engagement

**A God's Game**

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**Author's Notes:** Sorry for the super slow update, but I'm bogged down with work from my crazy teachers who believe we students have no life other than studying. Sorry, but I'm afraid you're going to have to expect slow updates for a while. At least until the AP and IB exams are over. Again, sorry. -_-

IMPORTANT!!! Kagome's friend, Ayumi, is now changed to the name of "Eri." I originally thought that her friends didn't really have assigned names, but _Spectrum _pointed out that they do have names. The person that I was referring to in the story is Eri, not Ayumi. Eri is the girl with the yellow hair band in her hair. I am not talking about the girl with wavy hair, okay? Just making sure… (By the way, thanks a million Spectrum!)

****

**Chapter V: A Test of Engagement**

            He sat in the cool open room, surveying his payment of precious metals. He fingered the metals carefully, searching for their purity, but his mind was distracted with other matters. _That Ryuten… He's up to something, _he thought, remembering the conversation that he had overhead when he delivered the dragon god his new sword.

            "Inuyasha, huh?" he said out loud. _Inuyasha… Any fool in heaven knows him, _he thought, irritated with himself. Perhaps he was overreacting to things. Ryuten may have only mentioned the boy's name in passing. _But then why was he speaking of capturing him?_

            "Hello? Is anyone home? Kintaro?" a familiar voice called out. He sighed knowing who it was immediately from the sound of his voice.

            "Back here, Ichiro," he said. As he waited for his friend to arrive, he began searching to room for one of his works. _Now, where did I put it?_ He started looking in the shelves, wondering where his mirror had gone off to.

            "Here's the mirror that I borrowed from you," Ichiro said cheerfully, showing Kintaro the very mirror that he had been looking for.

            "So, you had it all the time," he muttered, taking the mirror back and immediately summoning an image.

            "Pardon?" asked Ichiro, not quite catching what his friend had said.

            "Nothing," the metal smith said. "I had forgotten I had lent it to you."

            "That's not like you," Ichiro said, sounding concerned. "Are you ill?"

            "Of course not, Ichiro," Kintaro said, shaking his head at his friend. Ichiro was a good person, but sometimes he took too many things at face value. "In case you did not understand, I was referring to the strange weather we are having."

            "You didn't say anything about weather," Ichiro frowned.

            "I didn't?" he asked, trying to remember. Now what was it that he had said a moment ago?

            "You said something about forgetting," Ichiro prompted.

            "Ah, that's right," he said, suddenly remembering. Then he frowned. "Something's wrong," he said. He immediately summoned another picture with the mirror, forgetting about the other picture he had summoned before. The image of a giant tapestry appeared from the haze of the depths of the mirror, and focused on the tapestry until each detail was as clear as could be.

            "The Tapestry of Fate?" Ichiro asked, looking over Kintaro's shoulder.

            "Look over there, on the bottom," Kintaro said, pointing to the bottom of the tapestry.

            "It's all tangled up," Ichiro said surprised.

            "Fate is at a crossroad," Kintaro said darkly. "It does not know which path to take. That means that our every action will sway the path that Fate takes."

            "We're determining Fate?" asked Ichiro, sounding nervous. _Perhaps not us, _Kintaro thought,_ but Ryuten is definitely doing something suspicious. _He looked at the mirror again and suddenly recalled what he had wanted to see in the first place.

            "You have heard of the one named Inuyasha?" he asked, summoning the said person with the mirror.

            "Yes," Ichiro said. "He was the reason why Kaguya-hime wanted the mirror in the first place." Kintaro stopped what he was doing and looked at his friend.

            "She's planning on doing something?" Kintaro asked, wondering if the princess had a role to play in Fate's game. "Never mind. I don't want to know," he said, knowing that if he knew what the princess was up to, he would have to report it to someone, otherwise the law was going to punish him. "Tell her this: I overheard Ryuten talking to his men about capturing Inuyasha. I don't know if it is for real or if he was just talking, but I believe that she should know."

            "Ryuten-sama wants to capture Inuyasha?" asked Ichiro. "Why?"

            "How would I know?" Kintaro grouched. "And why do you still address him as a lord when he is the one who killed you?"

            "He didn't do it on purpose," Ichiro said, shrugging, putting the past behind him. "Besides, he didn't kill me directly, anyway."

            "He influenced them to," Kintaro said, unbelieving that his friend was so forgiving.

            "Whatever you say, Kintaro," Ichiro said. "I must go inform Kaguya-hime of the new developments now." He walked out of the house quickly, leaving Kintaro to watch after him as he disappeared in the sea of clouds. Kintaro quickly looked away. Just like Fate's current circumstance was affecting his mind, Fate had told him a little of the definite future. The calm sea of peace would soon be ravaged with the storms of war.

            She took the lotus flower and placed it in the pond, weaving her power into the petals. How long would she have to wait for the flower to bloom? One month? Two? She looked at the pond overrun with growth. The plants of heaven grew so slowly. Even with her gift of growth, she knew that the lotus would take at least one month to bloom, a time she did not want to wait through, but had to.

            She heard some rustling behind her, and soon Ichiro appeared, looking slightly lost.

            "Kaguya-hime, I've heard from Kintaro that Ryuten-sama may be trying to capture Inuyasha," he said quickly, sounding out of breath.

            "What?" she asked, wondering what he was babbling about.

            "Kintaro told me that he overheard Ryuten-sama speaking to his men about capturing Inuyasha," Ichiro clarified, waiting for the princess' reaction.

            "Why would they do such a thing?" she asked, not expecting an answer. They were going to go capture her son? Why? Had he done something wrong? She felt herself starting to panic in worry.

            "In that case, I will be leaving now," she said, starting to walk away from the pond, heading towards the palace.

            "But your body hasn't even been finished yet," Ichiro said, running to catch up with her. The foliage before her cleared as she walked through the densely packed forest, moving as she commanded them to.

            "I will go in my true body then," she said, never breaking her stride.

            "But that means if you get caught, they'll damage your real body!" Ichiro said, sounding nervous again.

            "Do not worry. They will not capture me this time," she said calmly. "Besides, I have no intention of coming back here." Ichiro stopped behind her in shock.

            "But, Kaguya-hime!" he insisted, running to her. "You have responsibilities here. You can't just leave." She paused in her path.

            "P-Please forgive me for my rudeness," Ichiro said. "But Hime-sama, you have a power you must wield for heaven. If you leave…"

            "It will only be until my son has passed on," she said in a soft voice. "The least I can do is be there for him until his candle is burned out."

            "Hime-sama, if you're caught…"

            "I will fight them," she said, her voice becoming hard as ice. "I will fight them, unlike last time. I will not make a decision I will regret anymore."

            "Are you going somewhere?" a high, female voice asked. Kaguya turned around slowly, dreading the girl she was about to see.

            "Usagi-san," she noted, wanting the girl to leave them. "How are you doing this day?"

            "Why, I'm doing quite well," she piped. "I've made about a hundred mochi today!"

            "Congratulations," Kaguya replied. "The empress will be pleased."

            "Yes, she will," the girl giggled. Then she smiled darkly at the princess. "I can't say the same for you, though."

            "What are you inferring?" demanded Ichiro, standing in front of Kaguya. "Show some respect, _Lady_ Usagi, else not speak at all."

            "Kaguya, Kaguya, Kaguya…" the girl said, sounding disappointed and shaking her head. "Once you left and made a mistake. Now you're making the same mistake again? I'm sorry," the girl said maliciously. "But I cannot allow you to do such a thing."

            "Usagi-san, what do you speak of?" Kaguya said in a low voice, underlying with threat. Ichiro moved to the side.

            "Now, please, Kaguya-_hime_," she said. "I'm only doing this for your own good."

            "And of what are you referring to?" asked the princess coolly.

            "You know well that the boundaries of this moon are your prison gates," Usagi said, brushing her soft, white hair behind her carelessly. "And I was appointed to watch over you; to make sure you do not escape from your sentence."

            "You have no right to speak to Kaguya-hime that way!" Ichiro said, angry that someone would dare insult the princess.

            "Step down, Ichiro," Kaguya said evenly. "Of this, I can easily deal with. After all," she said, turning to look at the girl before her, "she is but a third rate goddess, a rabbit sent to make desserts for the Great Empress."

            "Why you—!" the girl said angrily. "Do not underestimate me! If you should do anything funny, I will personally report you to the council of the gods."

            "Kaguya-hime," Ichiro said, looking at the princess. If Usagi reported her, then Kaguya would definitely get in trouble.

            "What do you have to report?" the princess asked tranquilly. "I have done nothing."

            "Well, you'd better not do anything!" she said, turning the other direction and walking off. "Because if you do, I'll catch you, and I'll make sure that next time, you won't come back here." The rabbit goddess sauntered off towards the palace, leaving Kaguya and Ichiro standing in the middle of the forest.

            "Hime-sama…" Ichiro started.

            "Seven nights," Kaguya whispered. "The moon will descend on the Goshinboku."

            "H-Hai," Ichiro replied, worried that the princess wasn't making a wise decision. But who was he to question her?

            "Inuyasha has appeared again," a rumbling voice said.

            "Where?" asked the other, barely the whisper of the wind.

            "I don't know. I just moved my eyes for a moment and he appeared from nowhere."

            "Raijin, you moron," the god of wind said. "You were supposed to be watching him."

            "Like it's my fault," Raijin growled, crossing his arms. "I don't suppose you've finished your foolish plan?" The god of wind looked at him with a cool eye.

            "I am not incompetent like you," he said coldly. He looked beyond Raijin and saw that Inuyasha was indeed speaking with his companions now. Now was the perfect time to implement his plan.

            "Raijin, contact these youkai," he said, handing the god of thunder a list of names and location. "I'll go contact the others. I want everyone to be here in one hour, understand?"

            "Why do I have to listen to you?" Raijin asked.

            "Didn't Ryuten-sama tell you to aid me?" he asked gloatingly.

            "Shut up, Fuujin, or I will do it for you," Raijin said grouchily.

            "Yes, do shut your mouth," Fuujin said. Raijin growled in annoyance and set off. He only had one hour, and he could not contact people as quickly as Fuujin could. The only reason that Fuujin had beat him to Ryuten-sama last time was because he was faster. Well, this time, he wasn't going to allow his speed to cause him to fail.

            "I don't even know why we bothered to help those idiots," Inuyasha grumped, annoyed that they had done yet another deed that did not contribute to their finding a Shikon shard. _If we spent the amount of time we do protecting people on searching for the Shikon no Tama, the jewel would long be complete by now, _Inuyasha thought to himself. _But then, what would I do once the jewel was complete?_ He looked at the sky, feeling as if something was amiss. _Oh, what the hell. If something's gonna happen, it's gonna happen._

            "But, Inuyasha, those people needed our help," Kagome said, walking alongside the dog demon.

            "They need help in carrying their crops?" demanded Inuyasha grumpily.

            "Well, they were old people," Sango said, smiling at Inuyasha's irritation. Trust Inuyasha to become angry whenever a good deed was done.

            "Yes, yes. We should always aid the old and weak," said Miroku rather unconvincingly.

            "Miroku's just sad that there weren't any pretty girls," Shippou giggled. Miroku sighed at his luck. Suddenly they heard high-pitched scream from a woman.

            "Someone is in trouble!" Miroku said, running immediately in the direction of the sound.

            "Oi, Miroku, wait!" Inuyasha shouted, running after the delinquent monk. Kirara immediately transformed, and Sango, Kagome, and Shippou got on the cat youkai quickly, chasing after the two boys.

            Miroku ran into a clearing and saw a woman hanging from the edge of a cliff. Judging from the back of her body, the woman seemed to have a very nice figure beneath the loose kimono, so when her hand slipped from the rock she was holding her life to, he did not hesitate to rescue the damsel in distress.

            She screamed as she fell, knowing that certain death awaited her, and was surprised when she fell in the arms of someone. She turned around, and looked at the face of her rescuer, her body still shaking in fear.

            "It is all right now. You're safe," Miroku smiled charmingly.

            "Th-Thank you!" the woman said, trying to regain her breath. Miroku noticed her soft, brown hair, and her pale green eyes on the face of an incredibly beautiful woman. Though he had to admit her hair and eye color was a bit strange.

            "Domo arigato gozaimasu," she said, getting out of Miroku's arms, and kneeling on the floor, bowing to him in thanks.

            "Please, please. Disperse the formalities," Miroku said, helping her up. He heard Inuyasha and the others arrive behind him. _Better not do anything **too** bold. Sango wouldn't like it, _he thought._ But still, it's not everyday you get a chance to save such a beautiful lady…_

            "I-I will never be able to thank you enough," she said, her voice quivering. "You saved me. You saved my life."

            "It was really nothing," Miroku said in modesty. "I was just passing by. But tell me, why is a lady like yourself putting your life in danger?"

            "I was picking herbs for the village healer, and slipped," she said, bowing her head demurely, causing her long hair to fall around her face, enveloping them in a lovely heart. Kagome was about to tell Sango that the woman seemed harmless, but saw that her friend didn't look too well, so decided to keep quiet. Inside, Sango was fuming with jealousy. The way the monk touched that girl and restrained his hands… Ooh, it was just getting on her nerves.

            "It's time to go, Houshi-sama," Sango said in a strangely tight voice.

            "Oh, of course, Sango," Miroku said, smiling in a sly way, which only made Sango angrier.

            "Please, come to my village," the girl said in a gentle voice. "I'm sure the village elder will be able to reward you somehow for rescuing me."

            "He really doesn't have to give Miroku-sama anything," Kagome said, knowing that Sango didn't want Miroku to hang around this girl any longer than they had to.

            "The village elder is a woman," the girl corrected Kagome, smiling. "Our village consists of only women."

            "Why is that?" asked Shippou, curious.

            "I'm afraid that all the men have gone off to war, so the only ones left are us women," she bowed apologetically. "Perhaps you do not wish to associate with women, but please come anyway. I must pay you back for your aid."

            "Associating with women bothers none of us at all," Miroku said in a friendly voice. Inuyasha snorted.

            "It especially doesn't bother him," Inuyasha said, turning the other way to get that woman's scent as far away from him as possible. What kind of herb was she using? Its perfume was starting to make his nose feel numb, and that was starting to irritate him.

            "But, Miroku-sama, we have to go and search for the shards again," Kagome said, still trying in vain to get Miroku to leave, and hopefully not make Sango any angrier than she was already.

            "But we cannot leave such a hospitable guest without showing our appreciation first," Miroku said reasonably.

            "Then let's go," Sango said, all of a sudden calm. "You want your reward? Then let's go get it." Miroku blinked at her in confusion. She was just letting him go like that?

            "Sango-chan…" Kagome started, but didn't know what to say.

            "Follow me," the girl said, near the edge of the clearing already. "And don't fall behind. These woods are dangerous for those unfamiliar with it."

            "Come," Miroku said, walking after the woman. Inuyasha just shook his head and started following the monk, with the others on the rear.

            "Sango-chan…are you all right with this?" asked Kagome.

            "Why wouldn't I be?" she replied. _It's obvious now that he doesn't care about me, so I don't know why I keep on worrying about him, _Sango thought. _I'm such a fool. Out of everyone in the group, he's the only one I don't treat like a sibling, and yet, he doesn't notice a thing. _She looked up and saw that Miroku was chatting amiably with the girl, and sighed inwardly. _Maybe I'm just not feminine enough for him._

            "Ne, Inuyasha," Kagome said, walking next to him. "Doesn't Sango-chan look a little bit sad?"

            "She does?" he asked, clueless.

            "Didn't you notice?" asked Kagome in slight disbelief.

            "Huh?" said Inuyasha, wondering what she was talking about. Kagome sighed.

            "Just go do something about it, okay?" she asked. _I can't say anything to Sango, because then she'll know that I'm trying to cheer her up, _she thought. _Maybe Inuyasha can break her out of her depression?_

            "Like what?" asked Inuyasha, not understanding why Sango would become sad all of a sudden. Did it have something to do with that woman?

            "I don't know, just cheer her up," Kagome said, shaking her head in exasperation.

            "Do you want me to yell at her?" asked Inuyasha.

            "No!" said Kagome, wondering why he still didn't understand yet.

            "Inuyasha is an idiot," Shippou said.

            "Nani?!" said Inuyasha, pounding the child's head.

            "Why did you do that?" shouted Shippou indignantly, rubbing the bump.

            "Keh. You deserved it," Inuyasha replied.

            "Inuyasha, are you listening to me?" asked Kagome in a menacing voice. "Go talk to Sango-chan _now_," she said slowly and deliberately, pronouncing every syllable so that Inuyasha wouldn't miss anything.

            "Feh," Inuyasha said, shuffling towards Sango. Kagome was scary when she was irritated. He looked at Sango, and saw that she did look a little sad. But still, there was nothing to be sad about, right?

            "Oi," Inuyasha said, not looking at Sango.

            "Hmm?" asked Sango, sounding distracted. _Shit! What am I supposed to say? _he thought, racking his brains for something.

            "Uh… Don't look so sad, all right? You're annoying the hell out of me," he finally said. He could hear Kagome slapping herself on the forehead somewhere in the distance.

            "Oh. Are my emotions that obvious?" asked Sango, starting to look sadder. _Damn it! She's supposed to be happy! _Inuyasha thought in frustration. _Stupid girls. What's wrong with them?_

            "Listen to me, Sango," he said firmly, trying to keep his voice from shouting out of nervousness for making a girl sad. "You have nothing to be sad about! All of us are here for you, even that louse, Miroku. So whatever it is you're worrying about, don't. Because there's more to this group than just a search for shards that's binding us. So don't worry. And don't be sad no more, because it's probably not worth it." _Uh… Am I supposed to say anything else?_

            "Not worth it, huh?" she asked. "You're probably right. Thanks, Inuyasha," she said, though she didn't exactly sound thankful.

            "Err… This doesn't have anything to do with Miroku, does it?" Inuyasha ventured, remembering how Kagome had suggested something as preposterous as Sango liking that lecher.

            "Eh?" asked Sango in surprise, and starting to blush. "H-How did you know?"

            "Huh? Know what?" asked Inuyasha. It couldn't be that Kagome was right, could it?

            "Th-That I…I like M-M…" Sango started to stutter, her face a bright red.

            "You like Miroku?" asked Inuyasha, aghast with surprise. Sango twiddled her fingers around and stole a glance at the monk, who was still conversing with the girl. She sighed.

            "Damn. That means Kagome was right," Inuyasha grumbled.

            "Didn't you already know?" asked Sango, realizing that she had just assumed Inuyasha knew, and had just revealed her secret. She could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

            "I knew that Miroku liked you, but I didn't know that you liked him back," Inuyasha said matter-of-factly. Sango looked at him in surprise.

            "How do you know he does?" Sango asked, wondering if she could really rely on Inuyasha's judgment. But if Inuyasha was right…

            "Because he's so obvious!" Inuyasha said as if it were the clearest thing in the world. Sango looked at him skeptically.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome said, suddenly appearing next to him. Sango realized that Kagome had probably been the one who had asked Inuyasha to cheer her up. Otherwise Inuyasha would have never willing come and talk to her about such things. _I suppose I have to thank Inuyasha. He did make me feel a little better, _she thought, _albeit a strange way of cheering me up, but effective nonetheless._

            "You knew Miroku-sama liked Sango, and you never told me about it?" asked Kagome.

            "You never asked," Inuyasha shrugged. Kagome looked at him in disbelief.

            "Wait a minute, Inuyasha," Shippou said, perched on Kagome's shoulder. "You knew that Miroku, who barely reveals his emotions, liked Sango, even though you didn't know that Sango, whose emotions can clearly be seen, liked Miroku?" asked Shippou, making Sango heat up with embarrassment. _Great… Now practically everyone knows, _she thought. _Well, everyone except the person that should know._

            "Sango, hurry up," Miroku shouted from a distance. "All of you are going to be left behind if you keep walking in that slow pace.

            "Hai, Houshi-sama," Sango said, running quickly after him with the giant bone boomerang swung over her shoulder. Kagome watched in silence as she saw Sango catch up to Miroku and walk by his side. The other girl was just a few paces before the both of them.

            "Maybe we should hang back a little," Kagome suggested.

            "Why?" asked Shippou and Inuyasha simultaneously. Kagome sighed. How tactless they both were.

            "Kagome, if we hang back, wouldn't Miroku and Sango take all the food?" asked Shippou.

            "Then let's quickly go after them," Kagome sighed in exasperation. The three walked towards the direction that Miroku had taken, Kirara having gone after her master long ago. Suddenly, they were all hit by some sort of barrier, and were flung back by the force.

            "What the hell?" demanded Inuyasha, taking Tessaiga out in one smooth motion and hitting the barrier. "What the fuck is this?" he growled, trying to break the barrier with Tessaiga. Kagome had to shield her eyes a bit from the sun that reflected on the white blade, and saw that something was shifting in the depths of the forest.

            "Inuyasha…" she started.

            "Shh…" Inuyasha whispered, while trying to act as if nothing were wrong by continuing to hit the barrier. Shippou was starting to shake in fear, and hid by Kagome's leg. Kagome got her bows and arrows ready, hoping that whatever they were about to face, didn't require the presence of all members in their group.

            "So, tell me what the plan was again?" asked Raijin, observing the mortals from a hole in heaven's clouds.

            "Idiot," Fuujin insulted before telling the other what he wanted to know. "The kitsune women will lure the monk away so that he won't be able to sense the power in that vial. The vial is necessary to make the test work."

            "Right," Raijin said, still unclear about how the youkai women were supposed to lure the monk away. Weren't monks supposed to be righteous and have no desire for women? "Did you give them the vial yet?"

            "I'm not a great bumbling fool like you are," Fuujin said. Before Raijin could retort, he said, "Look! The first part of the plan has been accomplished." Raijin looked at the mortals and saw that he monk had gone off with a woman, seemingly conversing with her. A while later, the taiji-ya joined the two, and they both started off towards the direction of the youkai village.

            "Is she supposed to go with him?" Raijin asked. That wasn't part of the plan, was it?

            "She is unimportant," Fuujin said in annoyance. "I already told you that only the monk is the one that can see what is in the vial. As long as he's not with Inuyasha, everything will go according to plan."

            Raijin tried not to vent his anger on the wind god, and instead concentrated on the scene of mortals below. He wished that they could just capture Inuyasha already so that he wouldn't have to work with this conceited buffoon anymore.

            "Shikon no Tama… Give it to us," the large youkai said in a deep, slow voice.

            "Keh! In your dreams maybe," Inuyasha said, facing the giant oni.

            "Inuyasha, there are more!" said Kagome, panicked. It seemed like the whole tribe of oni had appeared before them, and none of them were small.

            "We're going to die!" Shippou cried, his back against the back of Kagome's leg. "We're surrounded!"

            "Don't worry, Shippou-chan. I won't let them get to you," Kagome said, putting an arrow in her bow.

            "Don't bother, woman," one of the oni said. "We're only here to deal with the hanyou. We wouldn't harm a defenseless thing such as yourself."

            "Yeah," another oni said. "Women taste bad when they've been damaged. They're better when cooked alive." Kagome paled.

            "You filth make me sick!" Inuyasha said. "Sankon Tetsusou!" he shouted, ripping the arm of the first oni off.

            "Strong," the oni said, surveying his severed limb. Inuyasha grinned.

            "Next time, it'll be your head."

            "We have a secret power!" an oni said. He held up a glass vial with some shiny powder in it. The vial was slightly smaller than the size of his hand. Of course, being a giant oni, that wasn't saying much.

            "We will defeat you, hanyou!" the oni said. "And steal the woman and the Shikon shards!"

            "Bastards. Who do you think you are?" growled Inuyasha. He unsheathed Tessaiga. "Prepare to die!" He brought the blade above his head, and sliced an oni in half.

            "Die, hanyou!" an oni said, throwing some of the powder from the vial on Inuyasha. Inuyasha sneezed, but other than that, and looking pissed, it seemed as if the powder had done nothing.

            "Heh, what was that supposed to do?" asked Inuyasha. "Tickle my nose?"

            "More powder power is needed," the oni said, throwing more on Inuyasha. Inuyasha tried to jump out of the way, but he was too slow. He may have said that the powder had done nothing, but in reality, it had caused a strange feeling to flow through him, and for a moment, he had almost forgotten what he was doing. The dust of strange magic landed on him, and he felt something almost rise from the depths of his soul, shooting pain throughout his entire body, but the feeling quickly passed as whatever it was disappeared. He acted as if nothing had happened. _I can't let them know that whatever that thing is, it's starting to work._

            "Tessaiga!" he shouted, bringing the blade around to slice off the oni's head. The demon blocked the sword with his hand, and pushed Inuyasha back.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, running towards him.

            "Get back!" shouted Inuyasha as he dodged a blow from a younger, but no less smaller, oni. Kagome readied her weapon again, not wanting to watch at the sidelines anymore. There were way more oni than there was Inuyasha, and there was no way that she was going to let Inuyasha fight all of them by himself.

            "More is needed!" the oni shouted, taking a pinch more of the fine dust than before and throwing it at Inuyasha. _Inuyasha had said it doesn't affect him, so why are they still trying? _Kagome thought. Suddenly there was a flash, and she saw Inuyasha fall to his knees, his muscles tense with pain, and his hair… _His hair is black!_

            But all of that disappeared a second later, when Inuyasha sliced off another oni's head in an attempt to kill the oni with the strange vial. _Did I imagine it all? _Kagome wondered.

            "More! More!" the oni said, starting to sound happy. "The Shikon no Tama will soon be ours!"

            "I don't think so!" Inuyasha shouted, bringing the blade down to unleash the wound of the wind.

            "Foolish hanyou!" an oni said, batting Tessaiga away easily. "Don't think that we older oni are as easy to destroy as the younger ones." Inuyasha watched in shock as the sword spun in the air, finally landing near Kagome.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, as the oni went in for the kill. She released the arrow, vaporizing the oni upon contact.

            "Inuyasha, your sword!" Shippou said, running to Tessaiga. _I must be brave, _Shippou thought. _Sango and Miroku and Kirara aren't here, so I have to be brave and help!_

            "Shippou-chan!" Kagome screamed as she saw an oni raise his hand to smash the little kitsune into a pancake.

            "Ahhh!" Shippou screamed, hugging Tessaiga for dear life. He saw the shadow fall over him, but before the hand smashed down on him, he felt someone grab him from around the waist and lift him away from danger.

            "I'll take this," Inuyasha said, taking Tessaiga from Shippou. He dropped Shippou near Kagome. "And next time, don't get yourself killed just to try and help me." Shippou was still too scared to respond, but he was glad that Inuyasha had saved him, even if Inuyasha wasn't thankful for his help. Kagome looked at Shippou, wondering why the sword's barrier hadn't rejected him. Was it because Shippou cared about humans?

            "I'll finish you off now," Inuyasha shouted. "Kaze no Kizu!" The powerful blades from the cutting edge of the wind sliced through the air, digging up the earth as it headed towards the oni. But suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew through the forest, and clashed with the wind from Tessaiga, dispersing the attack.

            "Nani?" demanded Inuyasha, looking around him quickly for the culprit.

            "Is it Kagura?" asked Kagome.

            "Someone else," Inuyasha shouted, jumping up and aiming to slice an oni's head off. The oni dodged in time, but was a little too slow, and had his ear was chopped off as a result.

            "I'll finish you now!" the oni chief said. He opened the cork on the vial, and dumped its contents over Inuyasha. Inuyasha screamed as the powder made contact with him, feeling a clash somewhere within him, threatening to rip him apart. He suddenly felt his demon powers replaced with a different, steadier power, but the remaining youki within his blood fought against the new power, making his body feel as if it were on fire.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, seeing Inuyasha fall on the ground in pain. His silver hair flashed for a moment, and she could feel a great amount of youki come from him, before it was replaced with something foreign to her. Inuyasha's hair became a black darker than the darkest nights, and his ears shrank away.

            _I won't let you die! _she thought, firing an arrow over an oni that was about to step on Inuyasha. Suddenly, Inuyasha's dark hair disappeared, replaced by a silver that was brighter than before. Kagome shivered as she felt an incredible amount of youki flow from Inuyasha, and was reminded of the time when he had transformed into a full demon. But this time… _Inuyasha is still himself. _She wondered about the sudden increase in his demon powers.

            "Tessaiga!" Inuyasha said, swinging the blade around in a half circle, taking out a good ten to twelve oni.

            "Inuyasha has become more powerful!" Shippou said in surprise. Kagome nodded in agreement. _But what was in the powder that caused this?_

            "Flee!" the other youkai said, running away from Inuyasha.

            "Oh no you don't!" shouted Inuyasha. "Kaze no Kizu!" Kagome had to shield her eyes from the attack, which was now brighter than before, destroying a large part of the forest, as well as anything that was in it. Once the dust settled down, she saw that several hundred trees had been felled, and Inuyasha looked like he was barely fazed at all.

            "Inuyasha," Kagome said, running to him. "Are you okay?"

            "Of course I am!" he shouted at her. "What do you think I am? Weak or something?"

            "Well, you just fell in the middle of the battle, so I think I have the right to worry!" Kagome shouted back.

            "What was that about, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked, noticing that the level of youki was slowly returning to normal.

            "Yeah, you changed. And your youki…" Kagome said.

            "Keh! Like I know," Inuyasha said gruffly, but Kagome couldn't help but notice the hint of worry in his voice. She looked at the destruction that Inuyasha had caused with Tessaiga's basic attack and shivered. She felt like something was about to happen; something was about to change. She hoped that whatever was happening wouldn't affect her or anyone else she knew.

            But Fate was funny that way.

            "Did you see that? He destroyed a good part of that forest with just one attack!" Raijin said.

            "Well, the test is complete, so we can report back to Ryuten-sama to start the next phase," Fuujin said, closing the gap in the clouds.

            "What was that supposed to test for? His strength?" asked Raijin.

            "Ryuten-sama will tell you when the time comes," said the God of Wind. "I'm too tired to deal with the likes of you right now."

            _So he was tested for his strength? _wondered Raijin as Fuujin walked off in the distance. _So he's powerful enough? He passed Ryuten-sama's test? But then why didn't Ryuten-sama just send a powerful youkai to fight with him instead of using that powder junk? _He was confused. Very confused indeed.

            Miroku arrived at the village with Sango and the woman, noticing that Inuyasha and the others had somehow fallen behind. Well, he wasn't going to waste his time waiting around for him. Time was precious, as he should well know, and he was going to enjoy every last bit of it while it still lasted.

            "Houshi-sama, this way," the girl said, leading them to an especially large house. Miroku looked at the people around him, and noticed that they were all incredibly beautiful women. _This is like a paradise,_ he thought happily, basking in the beauty that radiated around the village.

            "Houshi-sama," Sango whispered. "Do you notice anything strange about these women?"

            "Hmm?" he asked. Now that she mentioned it, there was something strange about the aura of the woman that had led them here.

            "The women here, they're all near the same age in appearance," she whispered. "And they all have brown hair, and…and green eyes."

            "Like Shippou," Miroku said, immediately understanding the situation. "That means these women… They're all kitsune." He wondered why he didn't notice it before, and realized that each woman's aura had been cleverly masked by something.

            "Their aura almost feels…holy," Miroku said, unsure of how else to put it.

            " 'Holy,' Houshi-sama?" asked Sango, unsure of what he was saying.

            "Mmm…" he said as the woman appeared again. He smiled brightly, while Sango tensed up behind him.

            "The elder will see you now," she said, parting for Miroku and Sango to enter. Miroku entered the house and noticed the woman sitting in the middle of the room. She looked to be exactly the same age as the other women in the village. _Definitely suspicious, _he thought, but his face betrayed nothing.

            "Konnichiwa," Miroku said pleasantly. "It is a pleasure to meet the Elder of this thriving village. I wish you the best luck now, and in your future. If you would like, I can set up some good luck wards for you."

            "Stop your meaningless banter," the woman said in a smooth and soothing voice. Miroku felt himself start to become drawn to her powerful spell, making him worried when he found himself unable to fight her power. "For who cares about the village when we—" She paused as she saw Sango. "A woman. Well, I suppose that you can't have every man that comes to this village," the Elder said. "I suppose I'll just have to eat your soul without playing with you. 'Tis a shame, really," the woman said, standing up. "I was looking forward to having fun with you." Her fox fire surrounded them suddenly, cutting off their escape.

            "Too bad you brought a woman with you," she said. "Otherwise, I might have given you the time of your life." Miroku shuddered as she started laughing, the fires around them becoming more intense. "Perhaps if I kill that girl first, I might be able to entertain you for a while," she mused, and laughed when Miroku looked furious at her suggestion.

            "Houshi-sama, I'll take care of this youkai," Sango said angrily.

            "Men's hearts are so fickle, aren't they, my dear?" the kitsune suddenly asked. "One day, they seem to be totally enamored with you, and the next, they're off chasing another woman." She smiled, showing her small fangs. "It's such a pity. You see, we women would be content with just one man, but men are different from us, aren't they, dear?" she asked Sango, her dark green eyes glittering. "They aren't worth protecting, are they?" she asked, watching with satisfaction as the girl was slowly falling under her control. The girl had a pretty face. Perhaps she could use her as a servant until she could no longer stand to look at her, or until the human girl had gotten old. Either way, she was a tool that could be used, and she was going to use it until it was broken.

            "Sango!" Miroku cried in alarm. _Why did she fall under the spell? Unless… Does she think those thoughts about me? _he wondered, hoping that he hadn't condemned her to her death because of his ways. _I swear, after this, I'll never fall for another girl. Never again. Not if I'm hurting Sango like this._

            "Which is why we must destroy them. We must do everything in our power to purge this world of the unworthy men, leaving only the faithful to live," the kitsune continued. Miroku clenched his fists in anger. How was he going to break Sango from the spell? If he used his air void in such a tight space, he was afraid of sucking Sango in as well. _What to do? _he thought, trying to think of something.

            "No…" Sango said, barely above a whisper, the word struggling to come out of her mouth.

            "Sango?" Miroku asked, a ray of hope appearing.

            "No? You want these unfaithful bastards to hurt us time and time again?" demanded the kitsune in a shrill voice, her face becoming a terrible sight to behold.

            "No," Sango said, lowering her head, seeming to fall under the spell again. Her entire body was shaking with some sort of effort of resistance, but it wasn't enough. Miroku took a step towards Sango.

            "Don't move!" the kitsune shouted. "You move, and I'll personally kill you!"

            "No!" Sango said, raising her eyes to meet the kitsune's. Miroku saw that her eyes still had a blank look, but now they were filled with fury.

            "We women have suffered enough. Do you want these worthless filth to hurt us even more?" asked the kitsune, making her voice a soft pitch, trying to place Sango under the spell again.

            "Y-You…wh-whore…" Sango said, forcing the words out of a mouth that was trying its hardest not to obey her. "I-I w-won't… I won't let you…" Miroku looked at Sango, hoping that the spell was going to be broken. _C'mon, Sango! You can do it! _he encouraged.

            "Let me? _Let me?_" the youkai laughed. "What gives you the power to say such a thing to me? You foolish ningen!" she shouted, placing a stronger, more forceful spell on Sango. Sango stumbled as the new spell was placed on her, her breathing becoming labored as she continued to struggle.

            "Sango!" Miroku shouted. He glared at the kitsune, who only smiled in triumph. He wondered briefly if he would be burnt to death before he was even able to get within fighting range of the kitsune, and readied himself to do anything to save Sango.

            "I won't let you!" Sango shouted suddenly, her eyes still glazed. "I… I won't let you hurt Miroku!" she screamed, breaking the spell and swinging Hiraikotsu to the youkai.

            "Nani?" gasped the kitsune in surprise as she was torn in half by the bone boomerang. The phantom fire disappeared around the house, freeing them to escape.

            The entire room was silent save for Sango's ragged breaths. Sunlight filtered through the doorway, illuminating the now dark room. The battle had been won.

            "Sango…" Miroku said, smiling and walking towards her. _She… Had she broken the spell because of me? _he wondered. _Does that mean she really loves me? Loves **me**? _ He saw Sango sway on her feet, falling suddenly unconscious, and Miroku quickly ran to her side to keep her from hitting the ground. He saw that her breathing had become normal, and watched in contentment that she wasn't hurt. The door suddenly opened, and there stood the woman from earlier.

            "The Elder… You've killed her," she said in shock, observing the two haves of a fox.

            "And what of it?" Miroku challenged. _If any of them try to hurt Sango again, I'll suck them all into my air rip as they come, one by one, _he thought protectively.

            "Houshi-sama, this is the second time that I will formerly thank you today," she said, getting on her knees and bowing to him again. He looked disbelievingly at her. "We… As you know, we are kitsune," she said, noticing that the monk was no longer so trusting. "The 'Elder' had taken control of our village when we were weak, and had started forcing all of us to gather men for her. She would eat the souls of men in order to retain her youth and power, and no one opposed her because all who did perished.

            "Forgive me for deceiving you, Houshi-sama, but I did not know of any other chance of destroying her without bringing a monk to her. Please forgive me," she said, bowing again. "Your cat, Kirara, is waiting outside. She'll fly you out of here. Even if you do not forgive me, Houshi-sama, I want you to know, that I, no, the entire village will be in your debt." She bowed once more, and walked out, leaving Miroku with an unconscious Sango inside.

            Miroku carried Sango to Kirara, carefully placing her on the large cat. He went back into the house to retrieve Hiraikotsu, and then climbed atop Kirara. Holding the boomerang and Sango close to him, he commanded Kirara to set off, leaving the village behind him.

            "Do you really think you should have just let him go like that?" asked a kitsune.

            "Don't be a fool. If his woman killed our Elder so easily, what makes you think we have a chance?" asked the woman that had spoken to Miroku just moments before. "Besides, with the Elder dead, we have an extra share of the payment."

            "Ooh," the other kitsune said, starting to crowd around the girl. "Is that the medicine of eternal youth?"

            "Yes, and it's all ours," she laughed.

            "Those gods really are fools to tell us to do a job that we would have done anyway for free," one kitsune said, taking a pill. All the others started taking one, too.

            "Let the power of Heaven's Medicine work!" the new leader of the kitsune said. She pretended to eat her pill, and watched out of the corner of her eye as she saw the others swallow theirs. They soon let out a scream and burst into flames, destroyed on the spot.

            "Idiots," she said, stepping on their ashes. "Did you really think I would share my prize with you when I'm the one who did the most work?" She fingered the single pill in her hand. "Besides, the gods only gave _one_ pill of eternal _life_. There was definitely not enough to go around." She looked at the silver pill in her hand. "What the hell. Might as well," she said, breaking the pill inside her mouth. 

            It was empty. 

            She felt implacable anger course through her veins as she realized what had happened. "Bastards tricked me!" she screamed, throwing the shell of the false pill on the ground. Well, she would never be fooled twice by the same ploy.

            She awoke to the gentle rocking motion that was so familiar to her, and opened her eyes to see the vanilla coat of her cat beneath her. The cool sun bathed her in its warmth, and she knew that the sun must have been getting ready to set. Suddenly, she sat up, stricken with panic as she remembered the events from before. _Houshi-sama… _she thought, looking for him with fear and worry creeping up her spine.

            "Ah, Sango. You're awake," a familiar voice said. She turned and saw the one that she had been so worried about standing quite close to her. Had the entire ordeal been a dream?

            "Sango-chan!" Kagome said anxiously. "You're awake! I'm so glad… You had us all worried!" she said, relief washing over her face.

            "Kagome-chan…" Sango said, feeling a bit dizzy.

            "So you saved this bum from the kitsune?" Inuyasha said, standing next to her also. "You should have just let the kitsune teach him a lesson."

            "Kitsune?" she asked, and realized that it had not been a dream.

            "Yes. Don't you remember?" asked Miroku.

            "Of course I remember," she said indignantly. What did he take her for? She was a youkai exterminator after all…

            "Ah… Of course," Miroku said. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes and saw that he was smiling in a most strange way. He looked…happy. But it wasn't like his usual smile. There was something there… Something she couldn't quite place. If she didn't know better, then she would have said that it was a smile of love. But of course it couldn't be. _He probably still doesn't know I love him, _she thought miserably to herself.

            "Miroku told us you saved him," Shippou said innocently. "That you broke the spell just for him."

            "No I didn't!" Sango shouted embarrassedly. She turned away from the others quickly, not wanting them to see her beet red face, but caught the sight of Miroku smiling in that strange way again. _Oh no! He probably thinks it's amusing for me to like him! _she thought, recalling exactly what she had said. _Oh no… M-Mi—Ahh! I called him Miroku! Oh no, oh no, oh no! I called him Miroku! I didn't call him "Houshi-sama" like usual. Now he probably thinks I'm like one of those stupid girls that fall for his stupid tricks, but I'm not! _she thought half in anger, half in frustration. _I truly… I truly—_

            "Sango!" Miroku yelled loudly, causing her to snap her head in his direction. He had finally gotten her attention. He coughed nervously, then smiled a smile that came from his heart. "I'm glad that you…uh… I'm glad that you broke the spell. I'm sure that saving my life was just a bonus for you," he said, smiling slyly at the objection in her eyes, "But I thank you all the same."

            "You… You're welcome," Sango said, slightly crushed that he still hadn't understood anything. _Stupid Mi—Houshi-sama, _she thought to herself, getting off Kirara. The cat transformed to her original form and leapt onto her master's shoulder.

            "There's a village not far from here, so I think it'll be best to stop there for the rest of the day," Kagome said, pointing to a direction further down the road. Kagome looked at Miroku and sighed, wondering if the monk was just pretending to be ignorant about Sango's feelings. Surely a man as intelligent as he could not miss such enormous clues? Then again, anything was possible.

            "Let's hurry up and go there and get something to eat!" Shippou said enthusiastically, grinning as he stood next to Kagome's feet. "Sango is probably hungry, too."

            "Then let us commence our journey again," Miroku said, smiling again. _At least his smile looks normal now, _Sango noted. Inuyasha started to walk off towards the direction that Kagome had pointed to, seemingly preoccupied with something. Shippou and Kagome quickly followed Inuyasha, but Miroku stayed behind, waiting for Sango to start moving.

            "You don't have to stand around and guard me, _Houshi-sama_," Sango said, emphasizing his title so that he would hopefully forget her recent lapse in formality.

            "Ah, but it is always a pleasure to guard pretty girls," he said in reply. She decided to ignore him and walked after the others, Miroku following behind her.

            "Miroku-sama, come and look at this," Kagome called from a little distance before them. She sounded distressed, and Sango and Miroku quickly walked to her, wondering what was wrong.

            There were six Jizo, stone statues that guarded the people, set by the side of the road, standing ever so serenely. The tableau was demolished by the setting sun casting its bloody glow on the headless figures, remains of the stone heads still lying about. Sango walked to the statues carefully, picking up a piece of a calm smile, and wondering who would do such a thing.

            The group stood there in silence, not quite sure what to make of the situation. The Jizo, guardians for the good, were destroyed, and for no apparent reason. Finally, Inuyasha couldn't stand the silence any longer.

            "If we don't start moving now, we'll never get to that town," he said grumpily, the scene disturbing him. He started off on the road again, not bothering to wait for the others. They would catch up to him. They always did.

            The sun was struggling to stay in that part of the world by the time they had reached the village. Shippou looked around the village, and noted the delicious smells coming from a particularly wealthy-looking building. Almost immediately, Miroku put a friendly smile on his face. 

            "Excuse me…" Miroku started, asking one of the villagers who lived in the grand house. Sango looked at the village around her, trying to remember something. The town felt familiar to her, but she couldn't remember why.

            "Thank you," Miroku said to the villager as he headed back to the group. "I know someone who lives here," he said to the others, "so I think we can stay with—"

            "Sango!" a male voice shouted suddenly. They all turned their heads towards the large house, trying to make out the person who was walking quickly towards them. He waved at her. "Sango! Don't you remember who I am?"

            Sango looked at the man carefully as he walked closer to the group. He was a young man, perhaps around her age, with dark, brown hair and light, chestnut eyes. He did look strangely familiar…

           "Taro?" she asked suddenly. "Momotaro?"

            "Ah ha ha," he laughed lightheartedly. "I suppose that would be the first thing that you would remember."

            "Momotaro-san?" asked Kagome, looking at him with confusion and slight disbelief in her eyes.

            "My name is Taro," the young man said, smiling. "It's not really Momotaro."

            "But 'Momotaro' is the name we all gave him," Sango said, smiling happily for the reunion with an old friend. "We called him that because he liked to eat peaches so much. You should have seen him back then," Sango laughed. "He used to be so plump because he would practically eat all the peaches in the peach tree back in the village."

            "I remember that," Taro said, laughing alongside Sango. Miroku felt a pang of jealousy somewhere in him, but quickly suppressed it. After all, Taro was just a friend of Sango's. He didn't have anything to worry about at all. _Yeah, if I think that enough, maybe I can actually convince my heart to believe it, _Miroku thought on the inside, but on the outside, he put on his customary smile.

            "So what have you been doing all this time?" Sango asked curiously.

            "Oh, I've been exterminating youkai," he said, seemingly unaware that there were at least two youkai around him. "I use this town as a base, and people come here to seek for my help," he said. "But what about you? Has Kohaku finally mastered his technique?" Sango fell silent, and Miroku felt like hurting the man before him for bringing Sango unnecessary pain. _Now, now… Calm down. Sango has been though all of this before so I don't know why you're getting so upset, _he thought to himself. _It's not this man's fault. He doesn't know what happened to Sango and the rest of the taiji-ya. _

            Kagome noticed Miroku's reactions ever since Taro arrived. If she didn't know any better, she would say that Miroku was slightly jealous. Of course that would never happen, but… She looked more closely at Miroku's face when Taro had unwittingly opened an old wound on Sango. What was that she saw? _Is Miroku-sama being protective of Sango? _she wondered. _That means that he really does like Sango. _Kagome smiled, playing with the idea in her head. _It would figure. Sango's shown that she cares about him so much that even an idiot can't miss the clues._ Kagome tried to keep her face neutral as she saw Miroku suddenly turn to face her, somehow having a sixth sense of being watched. When he turned away, Kagome sighed inwardly, glad that she hadn't been caught. It definitely looked like Sango wasn't just another girl to Miroku anymore, if she ever had been.

            "They've all died?" asked Taro incredulously as Sango explained the situation to her. The sun was more than set by this time, and the last streaks of red were quickly disappearing from the lavender sky. "And I was just about to go to your father to ask for your hand in marriage…"

            "What?" asked Shippou in shock. "Marriage?" Miroku wanted to ask the same thing, but he still had his pride and was not yet willing to let it go.

            "Oh… That, um…" Sango fumbled around for words, blushing in embarrassment. "You see, our fathers decided for us to marry each other a long time ago."

            "Because we were an excellent team back then, weren't we?" Taro asked. Sango nodded numbly, hoping that Miroku wasn't going to take this the wrong way. She had completely forgotten about her engagement to Taro, and had never really taken it seriously, but now here he was, standing before her, practically proposing and she had no words of protest to give him. Not that she wanted to be married to him. It was just that she was at a loss for words. _How am I supposed to explain this? _she thought as she stole a glance at Miroku. He did not look happy. She supposed that she should have been glad that he cared enough to display some emotion, but right now, all she wanted to do was to get rid of Taro and tell Miroku that she had no interest in her old friend. Of course, that was easier said than done, and she didn't think that she could ever bring herself to say that to Miroku anyway.

            "Why don't you all come to the chief's house?" Taro said suddenly. "I'm sure there will be no objections?" he said, partly referring to the chief, partly referring to them. Miroku was about to open his mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

            "You go on ahead of me," he said in a smooth manner. He was going to be calm and cool. No reason for him to lose his head. "I need to visit my friend. I will meet you all tomorrow."

            "But, Houshi-sama…" started Sango, but he had already turned around and headed off a different direction. Sango bit her lip, hoping that Miroku would come back like he said tomorrow. Perhaps she should tell Miroku that she didn't intend on marrying Taro now, but Miroku had already moved so far away that the shadows obscured him from her view. She sighed as Taro led the way to the mansion, oblivious to his fiancée's feelings.

            Miroku moved down the rows of houses, trying to distinguish one building from the next. But he couldn't concentrate on the description of the house that he had procured from the village earlier, for his mind was filled with Sango moving away from him. _Concentrate,_ he told himself. There was no way that he was going to stand aside and let this "Momotaro" boy take Sango away just because of an agreement made so long ago.

            He stopped in his movements and took a deep breath, hoping to calm his racing mind. He suddenly scowled as he remembered the look Inuyasha had given him before he had left the group. It almost looked like Inuyasha had understood his feelings for Sango, but that was impossible. He had never told him anything about his feelings, so how should he know? But then again, Inuyasha did act intelligent sometimes…

            "Miroku?" a feminine voice asked tentatively, trying to see him clearly in the darkness.

            "Yes?" he asked cautiously, though he acted perfectly calm.

            "Oh! So it is you," the voice laughed. She lit the lantern that she had been holding up, bringing the light to illuminate the both of them. "I was about to hit you on the head if you were a stranger."

            "That is not the most hospitable way to greet someone," Miroku replied mildly, trying to place this girl in his memories. Where had he seen her? Had he seen her at all?

            "You don't remember who I am? Or maybe it's because you don't recognize me anymore…" she said, tilting her head to one side innocently. "I'm Aiko. You know, Aki's granddaughter."

            "Aki," Miroku said, remembering the name.

            "Yes. She's the old lady—Here, why don't I just bring you to the house?" Aiko asked, turning around and moving the circle of light with her. Miroku followed quickly, not wanting a lady to be seen walking by herself in the middle of the night.

            "I came here to meet Aki, actually," Miroku said, fingering something within the garments of his clothes. "I have something to request of her."

            "Of course, Miroku," Aiko said, smiling charmingly in the tiny sphere of light that the meager lantern offered. "We've always been waiting for a day when we can pay you back for the favor you did for us."

            "Please, it was nothing," Miroku said as they neared the doorway to one of the huts. Aiko lifted the cloth covering the door and went in, holding the cloth to let Miroku in.

            "Aiko, who is it?" the voice of an old woman asked from an adjacent room.

            "Obaa-san, it's Miroku," the girl chirped, blowing the lantern out in the face of the light from the fire, and setting the lantern on the ground.

            "Miroku?" the old woman asked as she came out of the room. She surveyed Miroku, and smiled warmly. "My, how you've grown, boy."

            "It's been five years," Miroku replied, glad that the old woman still remembered him.

            "Miroku has a favor to ask, so don't keep him waiting too long," Aiko said in a singsong voice. "I'm going to go fix something for us to eat," she giggled as she started to get the vegetables ready for cooking.

            "Please, sit down," the woman said, gesturing to the raised floor beside her. Miroku sat down next to her.

            "Obaa-san, I'm going out to get water!" Aiko said, walking over to pick up the lantern.

            "Aiko, the water is already in the pot," Aki said, pointing to the boiling pot.

            "Oh, I knew that," Aiko said undaunted, and went back to cutting the vegetables.

            "So what is it, Miroku?" Aki asked, observing the boy before her. "Surely you aren't here to get herbs, are you?"

            "No," Miroku said, "I'm here to request your skills in the art of jewelry making."

            "Jewelry?" the old woman laughed. "I have not practiced that skill since my husband died."

            "But you are most talented in this area," Miroku urged, hoping that the old lady would do him this favor.

            "All right, Miroku, but only because it's you," Aki said warmly. "Now tell me, my dear. What is it that you request of me?" Miroku reached into his robes and pulled out a small stone.

            "Crystal, hmm? This should be relatively simple," Aki said, surveying the quality of the stone in her hands. "Not bad. Where did you receive this?"

            "From a lord for completing a job," Miroku said evasively.

            "If I work all night, I may be able to finish this my tomorrow morning," she said, reaching to a nearby shelf and taking some tools down. "Especially if this stone is to be carved in that design that you've wanted for quite some time." Miroku nodded, surprised that the old lady had still remembered. "In that case, I can make this pretty fast. I haven't forgotten the number of times you've made me carve that design until I got it absolutely perfect," Aki laughed, placing the tools on the floor and lighting a lantern to provide more light.

            "Thank you…" Miroku started.

            "Nonsense," Aki said. "You've always been like a son to me, and you did put my son and his wife to peace, so I should be the one thanking you. Now, Aiko has finished cooking, so you two eat while I look at this for a moment." With that, she shooed Miroku to the other side of the room, where Aiko was putting the soup into two bowls.

            "Let's dig in!" Aiko said, as she started her meal much more sedately than what she had said. Miroku smiled inwardly as he ate the meal, glad for a moment that once upon a time, he had stopped long enough to make a true friend. And now, he had let a certain someone become more than just a friend to him. _Will I be able to let her go?_ he wondered to himself, but decided that whatever path she chose, he would at least be there to support her all the way.

            "Ne, Inuyasha, where did Miroku-sama go?" Kagome whispered in the night quietly. Sango was sleeping peacefully a little ways away from her, and Shippou and Kirara were resting across from Sango and Kagome. Inuyasha sat outside, taking comfort in the bright moon, while Kagome shifted in her bed.

            "How would I know?" asked Inuyasha grouchily. "Go to sleep. We have more things to do tomorrow."

            "But, Inuyasha," Kagome insisted. "Don't you think we should find out what Miroku's doing right now?"

            "Who cares?" asked Inuyasha, although in truth, he was a little curious.

            "Well, I do," Kagome said, getting out of the bed. "Let's go look for him."

            "Go to sleep, Kagome," Inuyasha said, closing his eyes. "I don't want you to start complaining that you're tired just because you don't feel like sleeping at night."

            "I'm going to look for him," Kagome said, "and unless you want the shards to be taken by some evil youkai, you're going to have to come with me." Kagome stood there, waiting for a reaction from Inuyasha. She hoped her threat worked. She had never tried threatening him so directly before, and she was hoping that Inuyasha would buy it.

            "Stupid girl," Inuyasha grumbled, standing up. Kagome smiled in victory.

            They exited the building quietly, careful not to wake Sango and Shippou up. In the middle of the street, Kagome looked at Inuyasha, expecting him to pinpoint Miroku's location with his nose.

            "Well?" asked Inuyasha, looking at Kagome. "Where is he?"

            "I thought you were going to find him by his scent," said Kagome.

            "I'm not the one who wanted to come out and look for him," was all he answered.

            "Fine then," Kagome said, trying not to let her impatience get to her. She started off towards a random direction.

            "This way," Inuyasha said, walking another. "The path you're taking leads to the fields."

            "Oh," Kagome said, slightly embarrassed. She hurried over to Inuyasha's side as they started their hunt for Miroku.

            Then, somewhere in front of them, they saw a couple walking together, illuminated by the light of a single lantern. They heard a suppressed giggle come from the girl, while the boy whispered something to her.

            "Miroku-sama!" Kagome said, loud enough for him to hear, but quiet enough so that the villagers could continue sleeping.

            "Kagome-sama," he said, turning around to look at her. "Inuyasha. What are you two doing here?"

            "We should be asking you the same thing," Inuyasha said as the two groups met each other.

            "Miroku, are these your friends?" the girl asked, her eyes straying to the top of Inuyasha's head. She suppressed a shiver, and tried to look as carefree as ever.

            "Hai," Miroku answered. "This is Inuyasha, and Kagome-sama. We travel together."

            "And who might you be?" asked Kagome, her suspicions about Miroku rising. _He didn't go and ask a woman to bear his child the moment he found out Sango-chan was engaged, did he? _she wondered.

            "My name is Aiko," the girl replied. "I'm Miroku's friend, obviously."

            "Why don't you two head back to the mansion?" Miroku asked, trying to act as if he did not have a secret agenda.

            "Why don't you come back with us?" Kagome asked, pretending to have no ulterior motives than to invite a friend to accompany her.

            "Why don't we just visit your other friend?" asked Inuyasha.

            "Other friend?" asked Miroku, acting as if he didn't know what Inuyasha was talking about.

            "You mean Aki?" asked Aiko, trying to be as trusting as she could be of Miroku's strange friends. She tried to ignore the fact that one of Miroku's friends was a youkai, and tried not to stare at Kagome's strange clothes.

            "Aki? Who's that?" asked Kagome, looking at Miroku suspiciously. _Did he ask for two women to bear his child at the same time?_ she thought, hoping that that wasn't the case. Miroku sighed, giving up his secret.

            "Aki is a talented old woman who has great skill in the crafting of stones," Miroku finally relented. "I merely requested her to make something for me."

            "Oh!" Kagome said, embarrassed. "Um… So you're making something for Sango-chan?" she said to fill the silence.

            "How did you know?" asked Miroku, surprised that Kagome had known his feelings for the taiji-ya. _Well, I suppose Kagome-sama realized that a long time ago,_ Miroku thought to himself, not knowing that the girl had only confirmed his feelings for Sango that morning.

            "Heh heh… Wild guess, I suppose," she said, laughing nervously.

            "Well, now that you know what I'm doing, please return back to Sango," he said. "And please keep this a secret. I don't want her to know about her gift before I give it to her." Kagome stared at him, surprised that Miroku was displaying his feelings so clearly. _He really does love Sango-chan,_ Kagome thought, wondering why he hadn't shown his feelings before.

            "You better not be telling us to go just so you can do something funny," Inuyasha said, glancing briefly at Aiko. Miroku noticed where Inuyasha was looking at and merely smiled.

            "I assure you, from here on, there will only be one person whom I would want to do something 'funny' to," Miroku said, smiling calmly as if he had said nothing out of the ordinary. Inuyasha and Kagome looked at him dumbfounded, not quite believing what he said, and slightly appalled that Miroku would answer to Inuyasha's words.

            "You're sick," said Inuyasha as he turned away, unable to accept Miroku speaking about his actions as if it were nothing. Kagome agreed with Inuyasha. _They're both so vulgar when they want to be, _Kagome thought to herself as she followed Inuyasha.

            As his two friends headed away, he returned back to the hut, guided by the lone lantern decorated with pictures of peonies. _Those two are so immature, _he thought to himself. _Believing me to be uncouth just because I stated an everyday fact. _He wondered about his words though. They had sounded right at the moment that he had said them, but he wasn't sure if that was what his true heart felt. Sometimes the words he said just didn't reflect his emotions.

_            And I here I thought I was ready to let her go with another, _he sighed to himself. He suddenly realized that everything he had been doing that night was an effort to win Sango's heart. _Baka, _he said to himself. _You've decided to win her over before you've even considered that she had another man that she could possibly shower her affections on. Well, no matter, _he thought. _I do my best, and he'll do his. We shall see who is most successful. _Although he tried to be fair in his mind, Miroku was already hoping that Sango would choose him.

            "Miroku," Aiko said, extinguishing the lantern. "You're like a peony. The peony on this lantern."

            "A peony?" Miroku asked, amused. "How is that so?"

            "Well, the many layers of the petals on the peony hide the flower's true heart," she said, pointing to the painting on the lantern. "No matter how you try to pluck each petal away to find its heart, there are always more petals to cover it."

            "But in the end, there will be no more petals to shield the heart," Miroku said matter-of-factly.

            "Yes, but by that time, you will have known the person so well, that you will trust them with your heart," she said, smiling at him. "But I think that there is someone out there whom you already trust that has yet to pick all your petals away."

            Miroku smiled, knowing what she was referring to, and wondered since when had everyone started knowing his feelings. And here he thought that he had been hiding his feelings so well…

            Shippou awoke to the sound of someone ringing the warning bell loudly in the village. He got up quickly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and wondered what was happening. He saw Sango fully clothed in her armor, and Kagome and Inuyasha readying their weapons for battle.

            "What's—What's happening?" he asked, looking from one grim face to the other.

            "A group of oni are attacking this village," Taro said, appearing in the room with his armor on, but still adjusting the sword on his belt. After he was finished, he picked up his customary weapon: a long chain with something that looked like a large needle at the end of it. He dipped the needle-like blade into a jar of poison and headed outside.

            "Come on. We have to go stop the oni," he said, his attention focused specifically on Sango. "Are your friends coming along?"

            "Of course we are," Inuyasha said indignantly, jumping outside next to Taro. "Let's go."

            The group headed out towards the rumbling from a hoard of oni running to them at great speeds. Inuyasha pulled his sword out of his sheath, and swung the mighty blade once at the charging oni.

            "Kaze no Kizu!" he shouted, unleashing the sleeping power in Tessaiga. The oni in front of him were wiped out, but more started to pour into the village from the sides.

            "Ready, Sango?" Taro asked, his weapon ready. When an oni got close enough, he threw the pointed blade at the base of the oni's head, penetrating the skin and poisoning the demon. The oni fell with a resounding thud that was soon drowned out by the sounds of other oni rushing in.

            "Hiraikotsu!" Sango shouted, unleashing the massive boomerang. She looked around her as the boomerang came back to her, wondering why Miroku wasn't there when they needed him.

            "Kitsune-bi!" yelled Shippou as he engulfed a group of oni with his illusionary flame in order to give Kagome the chance to shoot her arrows at them.

            "Good work, Shippou-chan," she said, as they faced another team.

            "Why are there so many oni all of a sudden?" asked Inuyasha, cutting many down with his sword as they got too close for him to use Tessaiga's special attack. He remembered the oni from yesterday morning and wondering if it was some kind of oni holiday. Not that he had ever heard of oni having a holiday before.

            "There's too many!" Kagome shouted, as she had to run away to avoid being crushed by an oni's foot.

            "Lead them outside of town!" Taro shouted as he felled many more oni with his poisonous weapon. He quickly took out a long, thin vial and dipped his weapon in it again.

            Slowly but surely, they guided the oni away from the town, changing the battlefield from one of huts to a large, empty field. And still the battle raged on.

            "Why are there so many?" asked Sango in between attacks.

            "There has been something disturbing the youkai around here lately," Taro said, trying not to look tired from using his weapon. It took a lot of energy to force the needle into the oni's thick skulls, and he didn't think that he could last any longer. If Sango and her friends hadn't been here, he had no doubt that he would have been dead already.

            "A disturbance?" asked Kagome as she fired her dwindling supply of arrows at the oni.

            "A lot of the youkai are being kicked out of their old homes by someone," he replied, dodging an attack from an oni.

            "Inuyasha, use Tessaiga," Kagome shouted, looking at the single arrow left in her quiver.

            "I can't," he grunted as he cleaved an especially large youkai in two. "The youki is too mixed up here for me to use the attack properly. If I use the Kaze no Kizu, the oni aren't going to be the only ones who are going to be made into mincemeat."

            "What do we do? What do we do?" asked Shippou frantically. Sango swung the boomerang again, only to have an oni knock it back at her. She reached up and caught the boomerang, feeling as if her entire arm had been pulled out of its socket. She moved her arm a bit to make sure that there were no injuries, and looked at the oni, coughing a little. _The dirt that's flying around is starting to irritate my throat, _Sango thought as she looked for Miroku again. _I should have worn my mask._

            Kagome was on the defensive now, having only one arrow left, and not wanting to waste that last arrow. Shippou was running around, trying to do his best to protect himself and Kagome, but by now, the oni had figured out that Shippou's attacks were mostly illusionary, and no longer feared the tiny kitsune. Little by little, the entire group was pushed to each other, causing them to be surrounded on all sides by oni.

            "What do we do?" asked Shippou, staring in fear at the number of oni that were still approaching them.

            "Kazaana!" Miroku shouted as he arrived on the scene, sucking up the oni with his special attack. The oni barely had any time to turn around before they were sucked into the air void. When there were enough oni cleared from the field, Inuyasha unleashed the cutting wind, demolishing the rest of the demons.

            "Houshi-sama!" Sango said, a grateful tone in her voice. He smiled as she quickly ran over to him. "Where were you? I thought you said you were going to meet us early in the morning?" she said in a more condescending tone, not wanting Miroku to think that she had any particular reason to be glad to see him.

            "I said morning, not 'early morning,'" Miroku replied. "But it looks like I got here in time, nonetheless." Sango didn't say anything, for fear that she would betray her emotions if she should open her mouth.

            "Sango…?" asked Taro, sensing that there was something that he didn't quite catch about Sango.

            "Ah… Taro," she said, turning to him slowly. "Um… Come here for a moment. I need to talk to you about something," she said, trying to smile but failing.

            Miroku surveyed the scene before him and shook his head. He wondered what had caused the mass of oni to suddenly attack this village. It did not seem to have anything to do with the resources that were at this place. The village here was as plain as could be, offering no secret treasures.

            "Miroku-sama, did you—" Kagome was about to ask, but saw Sango coming, so quickly closed her mouth.

            "Let's head on out," she said, swinging the boomerang over her shoulder as Kirara walked from the place where she was protecting the villagers and transformed into a smaller version.

            "What about Taro and your engagement?" asked Miroku in surprise.

            "There…There's no longer an engagement," Sango said hurriedly, walking past Miroku so that he couldn't see her face. "There's no way I can marry a guy like him anyway…"

            "Why?" asked Miroku, jogging to catch up to her. He noticed that Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippou were hanging in the back somewhere, trying their best not to disturb the two. Miroku smiled at their consideration.

            "It doesn't matter," she said. "Maybe it's because I haven't gotten my revenge on Naraku yet," she lied. "Or maybe because I still have to bring Kohaku back to life."

            "Maybe you are a very bad liar," Miroku said, stopping in front of her so that she could not proceed any further. "Here, for you." He took out from his robes a silver chain with a crystal pendant hanging from it. The many cuts on the crystal caught the light of the still morning sun as Sango carefully accepted the gift from Miroku.

            "What—What is this for?" she asked, looking at it in disbelief. _I've… I've never known anyone who had any type of jewelry, _she thought to herself, wondering where Miroku had conned this.

            "A token of my thanks for yesterday," Miroku said, noticing a strange expression on Sango's face. "I had an old friend in this village make it for me."

            "Oh, so you didn't swindle this off anyone," Sango said in relief. Miroku gave her an indiscernible look. "You didn't, right?"

            "Ah, well, this completed jewel, I did not swindle," Miroku said vaguely.

            "But the crystal…?" asked Sango, having a sneaking suspicion of the truth.

            "Wow!" Kagome said as she saw what Miroku had given Sango. "That's pretty. But why is it shaped like a tear?"

            "Baka," Inuyasha said. "It's not a tear. It's a pear."

            "No, it's shaped like a soul," Shippou said, jumping up on Kagome's shoulder.

            "A soul?" asked Sango, wondering why the child had such morbid thoughts. _I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, considering… _Sango thought. _But this gift… Why is he giving it to me? Could it be...?_

            "You are both wrong," Miroku said, shaking his head in disbelief that none of them could figure out what the pendant was supposed to be shaped like. "It's a raindrop."

            "A raindrop?" they all asked in unison.

            "Yes, a raindrop," Miroku said half in exasperation, half in an experienced manner. "As all know, rain is the symbol of life. I thought that it would be a perfect gift for Sango."

            _A perfect gift for Sango? _Shippou wondered. _That's right… Kohaku. Miroku went through all this trouble just to give Sango a reminder to cherish her life? _Shippou scratched his head, not understanding Miroku's motives.

            "Houshi-sama," Sango said, looking at the pendant in her hands. "I—I can't accept—"

            "Please do," Miroku said, bowing slightly. "If nothing else, it would give me the honor." Sango didn't know what else to do, other than put the necklace on, so she did. She felt happy that Miroku had gotten such a gift for her, but it was so unexpected that she didn't know quite what to say.

            "Raindrops, hmm?" asked Sango. "I'll try to keep what you said in mind."

            Inuyasha looked at Miroku carefully, and noticed that the monk was practically as happy as the girl who received his gift. _Perhaps Miroku has finally learned to value his own life if he's willing to give such a gift to someone, _he contemplated._ Keh, _Inuyasha thought, turning away from the two. _They're both suicidal, so I suppose this is best for the both of them. _He remembered the time when Miroku had chosen to throw his life away when he thought all hope was gone, and how Sango had decided to die once she killed Kohaku.

            "Let us continue on our journey, shall we?" asked Miroku, heading out of the village, feeling happier than he had ever felt in a long time. Sango nodded, a beautiful smile on her face as she walked closer to the monk than before.

            "This really was a test of engagement, wasn't it?" sighed Kagome as she watched Sango and Miroku walk alongside each other.

            " 'Engagement?'" asked Inuyasha. "Are you talking about a 'battle' engagement or what?"

            "No," Kagome said, smiling at Sango's happiness. "An engagement of love."

            The morning sun rose high into the clear, sea-blue sky, sprinkling its soft light upon the travelers. Miroku walked at a gentle pace next to Sango, and for once, didn't try to ruin the atmosphere. For once, everything was as it should be.

**Miscellaneous Information/Comments:** Nice, long chapter, isn't it? (And double meanings in the title!)

Supposedly, in Chinese folktales, there's a rabbit (usagi) on the moon making mochi (a type of dessert that can be filled with red bean paste, or green bean, or can be covered by peanut powder), I think.

If you know some Asian stories, lily's serve as the body for some people when they need to…uh…put their soul somewhere? I don't know. It's weird.

The six Jizo (stone statues of those roadside guardians) come from a story about… Six Jizo! The story goes on about how an old guy couldn't sell these hats, and it was snowing, and he saw these six jizo, pitied them and gave them his unsold hats. The next day, they rewarded him.

Momotaro (momo=peach) comes from a tale where a boy is born from a giant peach, and grows up to fight these oni on an island somewhere, defeats them, and takes back the treasure that they had stolen from the villagers and more.

The peony lantern comes from a story where a lantern floating on the water is stuck, so a young man frees the lantern and allows it to float down the river or something. Anyway, it's the festival where they float lanterns to guide the spirits home, and since the young man allowed the lantern to continue on the journey, the ghost of the lantern fell in love with him. So she visited him and became friends with him (he didn't know she was a ghost), but when it was time for her to leave, she decided to take him with her. He found out she was a ghost, didn't want to leave, but in the end, the girl ended up dragging his soul out and taking it with her. Comfy, isn't it?

That's all I have to say…for now.


	6. A Mother's Legacy

**A God's Game**

****

**VI. A Mother's Legacy**

            He was looking at the mirror again. He had been doing that recently, spying on the Tapestry of Fate in hopes of learning what was to come. True, it was illegal, and he knew he should not do what he was doing, but there was a sixth sense in him that told him if he did not find out what fate had in store for them, he would never have the chance to find out again.

            He usually wasn't the type to believe in the end of the world, or the end of the rule of heavens, or anything to that similarity, but this time was different. He was connected to the tapestry, his mother being one of the original who had tended to the giant loom before passing onto the next phase of the souls, and he could feel destiny's cloth getting ready to end.

            So he peered into the mirror, into the forbidden room to see if there was any possible way to avert the catastrophe that he was sure would soon come. The tapestry wove itself with a hypnotizing rhythm, seemingly not changing, but he noticed that there was something different about the weaving of fate. With each thread that was strung in and out of the loom, a thick black one accompanied it. And to him, Fate was no longer being indecisive. A path had been chosen.

            It was the wrong path.

            He watched in silent dread as the dark thread steadily weaved itself in magnificent embroidery, securing the destiny of this world. _The black string, _he thought. _Haha-ue always used to say that the day the black string appeared was the day I would stop my metal working,_ he thought as he remembered times when his mother became annoyed with him for tinkering in metals all day long. _I never would have thought that her words were true. The black thread signifies the coming end of the tapestry, and when that happens…_ He paused, not liking his conclusion. _I will stop my metal working because I will no longer be._

            He looked at the tapestry again, despair starting to eat at him. He saw the minute strings weave the history of the world, and saw that a figure in red appeared quite often. _Who is this? _he wondered, searching his mind for one who would don the color of blood.__

_            Hi-nezumi! _he thought suddenly, realizing the scarlet cloth to be that of the fire rat's fur. _And unless I am mistaken, there is only one person in the world who has such a suit, _he thought, realizing whom fate was weaving. _And it seems like Ryuten's recent actions have provoked Fate to the path that will benefit us least of all, _he understated. _But out of all the people in this realm with significant power, why did fate choose to weave him? _He could think of several people who were in a greater position to alter fate than that young lad did, and yet, destiny had chosen him.

            He set the mirror down, pacing the expanse of his home and starting to worry. _That mortal… Perhaps I can warn him of what is to come so that he can change it, _he thought. But did he even know what fate had planned?

            His eyes suddenly strayed to an alcove in the wall, expecting him to realize what lay there. He walked over and saw a dusty scroll lying among bits and pieces of unused metal. Carefully, he picked the scroll up, remembering that particular scroll to be one of the last inheritances he had gotten from his mother. He blew the fine layer of dust off the cloth, and unrolled it, and saw that the bottom part of the scroll had been torn, or burnt off long ago. He remembered that his mother had done something to the scroll before giving it to him, but could not, for the life of him, remember what she had done. _Was she the one who destroyed it? _he wondered.

            He looked at the scroll, and a terrible chill washed over him as he read the characters written in fine, beautiful calligraphy, in the language of those that were connected to all.__

_            "Change so subtle so as not to be seen_

_            The world sleeps so calm or so it may seem_

_            The light and the dark for once shall separate_

_            And shall return only to obliterate_

_            Waters of Heaven shall be washed with Flame_

_            Rise high sun from false Avalon it came."_

            "Prophecy," he said in shock as he remembered why his mother had given this scroll to him. _To prevent it from happening… She gave me the beginning of the prophecy in order to guide fate to another path, _he remembered. But what was he supposed to do? He did not understand the meaning of the lines, much less try to divert Fate from the chosen path.

            " 'Change so subtle so as not to be seen,'" he recited, pacing around the room again. " 'Change so subtle…' What does it mean?" he asked in frustration. How was he supposed to note a subtle change if it was subtle?

            He wondered if the change had something to do with the hanyou. After all, if fate was weaving him… But how would he know a subtle change had occurred if he didn't know what it was like before the change?

            He looked outside the window, watching the clouds move lazily below him, and suddenly had an idea of what he could do first. He knew that what he would do could cost him his life if things went wrong, but he figured that if he failed, he was going to die anyway, so shrugged off the danger and started out of his house, headed towards the River of Time.

            He arrived at the gate a few minutes later, staring at the high, cold wall, and hoping that the three sisters were in a good mood today. Before he could knock on the gate, an old lady opened the door, and staring at him with piercing eyes, she allowed him to enter into her domain, shutting the door behind him with a thud.

            "We know of your mission," the old lady said. "The Past shall guide you."

            "Thank you, Lady Future," he said, trying to remain calm, and bowing to the old woman before him.

            "Fear not, for we shall harm not," a middle-aged woman said, appearing from one of three doors. "Sister Past is not one who harms."__

_            But you two are? _he thought, the two woman making him uncomfortable. He should have been more prepared to meet the Sisters of Time, but it was too late now to regret his decision anyway.

            "We too will not harm you," the Lady of the Present said, reading his mind. He stopped his thoughts immediately, remembering now that the Present was truly the present in that she could see all that was happening, including knowing the thoughts of those around her.

            "Follow Sister Past," the older woman commanded. He saw a little girl standing silently next to an ominous door, and wondered if he should have come here in the first place. He walked reluctantly to the child, and the child brushed her fingers against the giant door, opening the path with a loud creak.

            She walked through the passage, not waiting for him, and he quickly followed her in. _I keep forgetting that the Past is a child, _he thought to himself. _But what a depressing thought it is that the Future is an old woman. I suppose in the future, we will all become old…_

            The girl stopped suddenly, and he could hear the roaring sound of water somewhere in front of him. She walked towards the water, calming the raging river with her presence, and looked at him, beckoning him to discover what he wanted to know.

            He walked towards the river and saw images flash and fade before him, and decided to concentrate on the one with the red-cloaked hanyou in it. He tried not to notice that the river was running opposite the direction that normal rivers did, flowing up the waterfall instead of falling down it.

            He saw the hanyou pinned to a large tree, later awakened by a giant centipede and a young girl who was running through the forest. He saw the young girl say to the hanyou that the monk that was currently unconscious was not a bad person. He saw the hanyou say something wrong, and the girl subduing him with a spell. He saw her become upset when a kitsune child had said something about Inuyasha, but she did nothing but walk away.

            He saw another similar scene, but this time, instead of walking away, she had glared at the child when he had suggested Inuyasha liking some princess. Was this what the prophecy meant? A change that was not easily noticed? But he saw the scenes after that, and it seemed like the girl had never done the same action again. So did she really not change?__

_            Or is her unconscious action a part of the prophecy? _he wondered. _"The world sleeps so calm or so it may seem." Does that mean the change goes unnoticed and the world believes itself to be at peace again?_

            "So, Inuyasha is not the one the prophecy refers to," he said out loud, forgetting the little girl to be standing next to him. "All I have to do is find this young lady and tell her." He was reminded of the girl when she made a subtle movement that allowed the river to run at its original pace again. She looked at him, and indiscernible expression in her eyes.

            "I, um… Thank you," he said, getting ready to leave.

            "Kintaro," the girl in a soft voice. He turned to her, wondering if this was the part where he lost his life. "Often Fate deceives you. What is truth in your mind is not truth in Fate." He looked at her, not understanding what she was trying to say.

            "You have seen the past," she continued in the same, whispery tone. "You have made your conclusions. But beware applying your conclusions to those that are not concerned." He stared at her, still not understanding. She looked at the door behind him, and the door swung open, allowing him to leave.

            "Not only the Destiny of this plane is threatened," she to herself quietly as he left. He passed through the rest of the Sisters domain and saw no one. He breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of their territory and safely in his, deciding immediately to call up an old friend to contact the mortal.

            "The test was a success," the windy voice said as he bowed quickly to his lord. "It went as you had predicted."

            "Yeah, that Inuyasha was really strong," said Raijin in a deeper tone, earning a disdainful look from Fuujin.

            "So he is strong in that side…" Ryuten said mostly to himself. "Take this, Fuujin," he said, handing the wind god something incredibly beautiful and elaborately designed. Fuujin gasped as he realized what it was.

            "Ryuten-sama, this—! This is Amaterasu o-mi-kami's…!" he stuttered as he held the sacred object of the Sun Goddess, Queen of all Gods in his hands.

            "Yes it is," Ryuten said, pleased that Fuujin had realized the value of what he was giving to him.

            "But how…?" he asked, wondering what method his master had used to procure such a treasure.

            "I have many contacts," was all his lord would reveal. "Now go. And do not fail." Fuujin and Raijin bowed hastily, leaving the mansion with Fuujin in shock of what he held in his hands. He shook himself out of his stupor, and was immediately set on the task at hand.

            He walked through the Halls of Hell, the souls there disgusting him. Some of them were waiting peacefully for their chance to reincarnate, while others were weeping or raging about things that had occurred in their lives. To him, they were all pathetic.

            He approached a particular woman who sat silently against the wall, seemingly at peace. But he knew better. She was one of those few who could not let go of the past and reincarnate. Well, he would use that to his advantage.

            "Woman," he said in a rude manner. "I have a deal for you." She barely stirred. He started to get impatient. "I will grant you life, so long as you do not change your heart." 

            She paid no attention to him.

            "Damn bitch!" he snarled, grabbing the soul before him by its neck. "Did you not hear my offer?" He felt like squeezing the soul until it was destroyed, but her voice stopped him.

            "Return me to my original form," she said in a voice laced with fury and hatred. "I request nothing else." He put her back down and smiled, satisfied. Another had been taken to help accomplish the plan. Soon, those pesky insects could be eliminated, and they would be able to proceed about their business without any interference. 

            The wind blew the dust off the barren ground, carrying it across the place where a day ago had been a vast forest. The debris from the fight, as well as parts of dead bodies, were strewn carelessly about, looking like a storm had gone quickly through them and left without a trace.

            Or so it seemed.

            But he, son of a great lord, could detect a small trace of the one who was guilty of this destruction. As he walked through the forest that was not, he could smell the scent of the one who had taken his father's inheritance from him, and wondered what had happened this time to incur this new change.

            "Sesshoumaru-sama!" a child' voice piped, running after him. He pretended to ignore her, and started to concentrate on what had happened here instead.

            "Eew!" Rin said, seeing the body pieces around her. "Smells bad! Like Jyaken-sama!" The green youkai growled angrily in the background.

            "Stupid girl!" he yelled. "How dare you say this Jyaken smells bad?"

            "Stinky!" Rin said, giggling as Jyaken's face puffed in anger.

            "Rin, we're leaving," Sesshoumaru said, having affirmed his suspicions.

            "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she said, walking after her guardian. She skipped behind him, humming happily while he tried to make sense of what had occurred at this place. _That Inuyasha… _he thought. _His blood had changed again. And this time to one that even I, Sesshoumaru, do not readily recognize._

            He glanced at the calm skies above him, and could not help but feel as if things were going to go through a dramatic alteration soon.

            He glared at the monk before him, drunk and unconscious on the floor. One would think that after all these years, and after his countless warnings of how the alcohol was not good for him, the old man would listen to him, but no… Honestly, he was so stupid sometimes.

            "Oi, you drunkard!" Miroku said, kicking the monk. He was glad that the others had decided to wait outside, just in case the monk before him wasn't dressed appropriately. Now, he could use whatever language suited him, and when dealing with these types of people, the most vulgar of languages were always needed.

            "Oh, Miroku," the monk said, scratching his belly. "What brings you here?"

            "Hachi told me that you were ill, so I came to visit," Miroku said, crouching next to the old man. "But when I arrived, I found you out cold, obviously from drinking too much." He gave an accusing look at the monk. "How many times have I told you to quit drinking?" he demanded.

            "And how many times do I have to tell you that I won't?" he replied, taking another swig from a nearby bottle. He hiccupped and grinned embarrassedly.

            "What am I going to do with you?" asked Miroku, standing up and sighing in exasperation.

            "You could just go and leave me alone," his stepfather replied. Miroku looked at him, his face clearly showing that he wasn't going to do that.

            "Even if you are drunk, I can still tell when you're sick," he answered, opening the door. "And if you died because of this illness, I would not be able to forgive myself." _After all, no matter what either of us say, you are the only family that I have left, _Miroku thought, his face betraying none of his concern for the wayward monk.

            "Miroku-sama, can we come in?" asked Kagome, already walking up the steps to the shrine. "Mushin-sama, how are you feeling?"

            "Eh? What's this?" asked Mushin. "You've brought all your friends with you?" He looked on as the rest of the group appeared inside the temple, and was slightly touched by their worry for him.

            "And we'll be staying until you get better," Sango said, letting the heavy boomerang lean against the wall. "It's our way of saying 'thanks' for saving Houshi-sama."

            "Yeah. So hurry up and get better so that the rest of us can go hunt for Shikon shards again," Inuyasha said grumpily.

            "Inuyasha," Kagome said sharply, not believing him to be so untactful.

            "You can all leave right now," Mushin laughed. "I'm really quite fine." But he didn't quite suppress the cough that surfaced at that moment.

            "And you say you're fine?" asked Miroku as he leaned over in concern and patted the old man's back. Sango coughed suddenly and everyone stared at her, wondering if she had caught a cold too.

            "Ah… The coughing is very contagious," Sango said nervously, and as if to prove her point, Kagome suddenly coughed too.

            "Don't tell me you two are both sick?" asked Inuyasha, snorting at their weakness.

            "Well, excuse me for getting sick," Kagome said. "Not that I am," she added as an afterthought.

            "In any case, all of us will be staying here for a while, so I think that someone should go down to the village and start getting more supplies," Miroku said reasonably. "Inuyasha, Kagome-sama, would you two mind staying here? Sango, Shippou and I will go to the village to get some food and other necessities."

            "What about Kirara?" asked Inuyasha, who was standing next to the smaller version of the cat demon.

            "I suppose Kirara can choose wherever she wants to stay," Miroku said thoughtfully. "If Kirara wants to follow us, she can. If not, well then, she won't."

            "Kirara, are you going to stay or go with us?" asked Shippou to the cat. Kirara sat down, purring contentedly.

            "I guess Kirara is staying," Sango said. "Makes sense. She's been carrying us around an awful lot, so I think it's fair to let her rest for a bit."

            "All right then, let us head on out. See you all in the evening," Miroku said, heading out of the temple with Sango and Shippou following him. He walked across the empty field, noting his father's grave, and hoped that one day, he would not suffer the same fate. He heard Shippou patter up to him.

            "Miroku, do you really need me to go with you?" asked the little kitsune, looking up to the much taller man.

            "Well, I was going to use you as a bargaining chip to get the villagers to sell me their goods cheaper," Miroku said, smiling in his special way that usually meant that something was up his sleeve.

            "You mean use me to con them out of their goods," Shippou said sarcastically.

            "Don't say such horrible things!" Miroku said, feigning innocence. Shippou shook his head in exasperation.

            "Anyway, I think I should go and gather some firewood. It wouldn't be good to bring back food without fire to cook them, right?" Shippou asked. Miroku looked at the child in surprise.

            "I suppose so," Miroku said, looking at Shippou suspiciously. "But what gave you this sudden desire to collect wood?" he asked.

            "Ah…um… I feel like it!" Shippou said nervously, quickly running off towards the temple. He felt Miroku's suspicious eyes on him as he ran, and didn't bother to look back. _I did what Kagome told me to do and left those two alone, _Shippou thought. _I hope those two will get the hint and get moving. But knowing those two, it'll probably never happen. _He sighed as he slowed down to a walk, wondering why he was surrounded by a group of impossible people. _You'd think that at least one of them would get a clue…_

            "What did Ryuten-sama give you?" asked a thundering voice.

            "None of your business," the God of Wind said. "If you actually had a brain, you would recognize this prize too."

            "Why you…" the Thunder God threatened.

            "Silence!" Fuujin said. "I need complete silence to complete my spell."

            "What spell?" asked Raijin sourly.

            "The one we will use to capture Inuyasha, you moron," the Wind God said, unbelieving of how stupid his partner was. "Now shut up and let me do my job."

            "You shut up," Raijin muttered under his breath, and thankfully, Fuujin didn't hear him. A few moments later, Fuujin stood up, his spell completed.

            "All we have to do now is wait until the hanyou succumbs to his weakness. And then," he said, forming a blade of wind in his hands, "we can kill him."

            Miroku swung the bag of rice over his shoulder, while Sango carried the vegetables that they were going to eat that day. He was pleased to find that the little village had not changed since he'd last seen it six years ago, and it was comforting to know that there were at least some things in the world that were not touched by the ravages of war.

            "Houshi-sama, we can stay here for a while if you like," Sango said, noticing how Miroku seemed to be taking his surroundings in and storing it in his memory. "It's not like the others need the food immediately. Kagome-chan still has enough food in her pack to satisfy any immediate hunger, so…"

            Miroku smiled at her consideration, but shook his head. He didn't want to stay too long and find out that something had indeed changed.

            "Mai, please dance for us," he heard a villager say some distance away, and turned in that direction out of curiosity. _Mai? _he asked, wondering if it was coincidence.

            "Houshi-sama?" asked Sango as Miroku headed off towards where the crowd was. He gestured for her to follow him.

            There was a young woman dancing in the middle of the village, her raven dark hair flowing around her as if it were part of the dance. Her feet moved lightly on the ground, giving the illusion of her floating, and she had such unearthly grace that had it not been for the dirt that was slightly shifted beneath her as she danced, Miroku would have sworn that she was not of this world.

            She stopped dancing once she saw him, and the crowd fell silent as she looked at him, or more like glared at him from her position. Miroku fought the urge to take a step back when his eyes met with ones that were darker than the darkest nights, a brown so deep that it seemed to be an endless chasm.

            "Houshi-sama," she said in a soft voice that sounded like the nightingale singing.

            "Mai-sama," he bowed respectfully, recalling the name from earlier, and from a time period long ago.

            "Mai, you know this monk?" a villager asked, and the dancer smiled in confirmation.

            "Houshi-sama," Sango said quietly to Miroku, hoping that he would fill her in to what was happening at that moment.

            "I have no place to stay," Mai said suddenly. "Would you mind very much if I stayed at the temple for a night?"

            "I would have to request the permission of Mushin-sama," Miroku said, wondering what was going on. "But I am sure he will have no objection to an extra person staying." Sango was about to protest to a stranger staying so close to the Shikon shards, bur Miroku silenced her.

            "Just bear with me, all right?" he whispered to her, and when he turned back to Mai, he noticed she looked rather angry. "Shall we go?" he asked, shoving his misgivings aside. _This woman… Why does she look so much like—? _he thought, walking back up the shrine. He saw that Sango looked a little upset with him, and decided that he had better explain everything to her later. But for now, he let his mind puzzle out why this woman had such a mysterious aura. And why, why in all eighteen levels of Hell did she look exactly like his mother?

            Inuyasha sat outside the door while Kagome sat near it, reading her history book. Even if it was summer vacation for everyone else, she still had to study and make up for the work that she had missed. She sighed, but continued on reading, letting Inuyasha's presence comfort her.__

_            Oda Nobunaga, otherwise known as "Baka-dono" for his sometimes seemingly foolish actions, was born the second son of the Lord of Owari,_ she read, remembering the other Nobunaga that she had met in what seemed ages ago. _In his effort to consolidate his power, he had his younger brother killed when his brother rose against him as an example, and defeated his older brother for power. He is known as one of the unifiers of Japan, and his constant goal was to defeat or make alliances with the other lords. However, before he was able to achieve this, he was betrayed by one of his men and killed himself, rather than be captured. He was known as a ruthless man, and one prime example of this is the Buddhist hunts he conducted to eliminate the threat of the power of monks, who were repeatedly allying against him._ Kagome stopped reading for a moment, wondering how someone like him could be so cruel, and was about to say so to Inuyasha when she noticed that he was leaning against the doorframe and sleeping.

            She closed the book quietly, not wanting to awaken him, and giggled silently at his sleeping face. He looked so innocent and vulnerable when he was sleeping with none of his tough masks hiding him, and Kagome had to suppress a sigh as she looked at him, knowing that it wasn't often for her to catch Inuyasha sleeping, if ever at all.

            She got up and put the book back into her backpack, and saw Inuyasha's ear twitch at the slightest of noises she made as she placed the book in. He didn't wake up, and she knew that it was a sign of how close they'd become in that Inuyasha was no longer alarmed by any sound she made.

            "Kagome!" Shippou shouted suddenly, waking Inuyasha up. "I've got the firewood you asked me to collect."

            "Good job, Shippou-chan," she said, patting the child's head as Inuyasha yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Did you see Miroku-sama on your way back?"

            "No," Shippou said, and as if by coincidence, Miroku and Sango appeared coming up the slope, carrying the food they had promised. But there was someone else behind them.

            "Who is that?" asked Kagome, trying to squint her eyes to see better.

            "She smells kinda, I don't know, funny," Inuyasha said, experimentally testing the air. A few moments later, the three arrived at the shrine, and Kagome couldn't help but notice that the stranger was a beauty, and wondered if Miroku was cheating on Sango so soon after their relationship had improved.

            "Hello, Kagome-sama," Miroku said, letting the sack of rice down with a thud inside the temple. "I would like you to meet Mai-sama. She is a dancer, I believe," he said, his unbreakable mask on, not allowing anyone to get any involuntary information from him.

            "I'm pleased to meet you," Kagome said, smiling at the woman, but was only met with an emotionless glance. The woman seemed more interested in Miroku than anything else.

            "Let's just hurry up and prepare lunch," Sango said a bit callously, carrying the vegetables inside to the kitchen. Mushin walked towards the door, noticing Sango storming off and wondered if Miroku had done something stupid again. He arrived to see what the commotion was all about, and barely managed to suppress a gasp as he saw who stood before him.

            "Mai!" he said in surprise and in anxiety. "What are you—That is, how did you—?" he said incoherently as he tried to understand what had allowed her to return to this world.

            "Mushin," she said, her voice strangely cold with a tint of icy laughter in it. "I'm glad you remembered me even after all these years." She surveyed his appearance and smiled a smile devoid of true emotion. "Looks like you haven't changed a bit."

            "Neither have you," Mushin said, discreetly gesturing for Kagome and Shippou to go into the temple behind him. They got the clue and went inside, exchanging looks of confusion to one another. 

            "What are you trying to do, Mushin?" Mai asked, seeing his efforts as an obvious attempt to protect the women and children. "You know I would never hurt them, if that is what you are implying."

            "Get inside," the old monk barked at Miroku, surprising him.

            "Don't move from where you are, or this old man gets it," she shouted, her eyes never leaving Mushin's. "You know what I came here for," she said to the old man. "You know that I will not rest until I get what I want."

            "You've already gotten it," Mushin said, unable to hide the panic in his voice. "Shigure is dead."

            "Dead, is he?" she asked mockingly. "Then who is this?" she demanded, pointing to Miroku. Miroku just looked at her in surprise, as did everyone else who did not know what was going on at the moment.

            "That's Miroku," Mushin said reservedly. "Your son."

            Miroku could hear the silence drop on them like a thick blanket, and he heard the two girls inside the temple gasp audibly. Inuyasha didn't seem that surprised, and Miroku figured that was because he was able to smell the similarity in their scents.

            "My son…huh?" she said in a soft voice, her hair hiding her eyes from view. "You're a sickly old man now, Mushin. You know not what you speak of. And even if you did," she said, looking up at him, her eyes a terrible, ruby red color, "what makes you think I will spare him?" With one swing of her arm, she tried to slice Miroku in half, but thankfully, he backed up in time.

            "Okaa-sama," he said in a quiet voice. If he was hurt by her words, his face showed none of it.

            "You are truly Shigure's son to have dodged that one," she said, her voice unforgiving with a hint of demented joy in it.

            "But he is also your son!" Mushin shouted, trying to get the woman to understand.

            "I appreciate your past efforts to help me, Mushin. But," she said, her arm elongating into a scaled arm, "I think it is high time for you to die." She swung the pointed arm at Mushin, aiming for his heart as was fitting for his name.

            "Mushin-sama!" Miroku yelled in alarm, but the sound of a Mai shrieking and Tessaiga's sheath buzzing told him that Inuyasha had protected his stepfather.

            "Oi, Miroku," Inuyasha said, standing in front of Mushin with Tessaiga in his hands. "Am I allowed to dispose of this 'lady?'" he said, asking Miroku if he would give the permission to allow him to kill his "mother."

            "Little boy, you would not be able to dispose of me even if my foolish son gave you the permission to do so," Mai laughed, her voice echoing across the field.

            "Mai, the past is the past," Mushin said. "Just let it go."

            "I'll never let the past go," she snarled at him. "Never. Not until I destroy every last trace of Shigure."

            "You've already destroyed any traces of Shigure when you cut open his Kazaana," Mushin said angrily, losing his patience. Miroku and Inuyasha looked at him in surprise. _She cut… She cut Oyaji's Kazaana? _Miroku thought in shock. _Then that day, that day when Mushin blocked me… Was it to prevent me from seeing—?_

            "And he had no qualms about sucking me into his Kazaana," she said bitterly. "Did you know that? One that he pledged his love to; one that he pledged to protect…and he didn't even hesitate to destroy me." She laughed a laughter filled with pain and sorrow. "I was right. He never did love me."

            "You know that is not true!" Mushin insisted.

            "You don't know it is _not_ true!" she shouted. "You don't know that he lied to me, promising to stay by my side when in fact he was running around getting in with every pretty girl he saw," she said in fury. "_You_ don't know _anything _at all!" she screamed, her rage causing her to change from a beautiful, slender woman, to a long, thin, green snake whose fangs dripped with venom and bitter sorrow.

            "Mai!" Mushin said in alarm.

            "I don't care anymore," she said. "I've been to Hell for 'killing' my husband. I've refused to reincarnate with this hatred within me. And so," she said, turning to Miroku, "what makes you think I would hesitate to kill the last vestiges of my mistaken bonding?"

            "No matter how much you hate this Shigure guy, Miroku is still your son!" Inuyasha yelled at her angrily, surprising the others. "You make me sick, ranting on about love and betrayal when you are doing the exact same thing to Miroku."

            "Be—Be silent you fool!" she shouted, swinging at Inuyasha with her tail. Inuyasha just ducked and jumped away. "How could you understand anything!" she half screamed, half sobbed. "How could you understand anything?" She brought the tail down, trying to crush either Inuyasha or Miroku; she didn't care which.

            She suddenly dived at Inuyasha, who was just barely able to evade her attack. _Shit! I'm getting slow, _Inuyasha thought as he ran, trying to figure out a way to subdue her without hurting her. Miroku never really gave him that permission to kill, otherwise he would have ripped through her body already. It wouldn't be pretty, but he couldn't think of any other way to stop her rampage.

            "Okaa-sama, please stop!" Miroku yelled up to the giant snake, who paid him no heed and just dashed him against the wall of the temple.

            "Houshi-sama!" Sango screamed, running to him and picking up the boomerang along the way. "Are you all right?"

            "I'm fine," Miroku said, straining. He stood up again, trying to find an answer to this problem in his jumbled mind. What was he supposed to do? Kill his mother? Let his mother kill him?

            "Mai!" a deep voice suddenly shouted. The snake turned to face him, and couldn't help but gasp at the person before her.

            "Shigure…?" she asked, her voice soft and filled with unspoken emotion.

            "That is enough," the man said, and Miroku could only stare in wonder as he saw his father standing there, glowing with ethereal light. "I understand now. You don't have to be angry anymore. I understand."

            "You…understand?" she asked, her voice slightly quivering.

            "Yes. I know… I know I was wrong, and I hope that despite it all, you can forgive me," he said, his voice cracking a bit. "Forgive me for being foolish. Forgive me for not realizing that I had everything I ever needed when I was with you."

            "Shigure…" she said, her voice sighing like the breeze in the trees. "That is not enough!" she shouted suddenly, diving for him and ready to snap his form in half.

            "Okaa-sama!" Miroku yelled, trying to get her to her senses. This wasn't… This wasn't the mother that he remembered from his childhood. This wasn't the mother that Mushin had said died of an illness. This was a twisted soul: one who was bound by hatred and bitterness.

            "Ahhh!" Miroku's "father" screamed in fear. "Your idea stinks, Mushin!"

            "Shippou!" Inuyasha shouted, dashing forward and picking up the child in his arms as the kitsune transformed back to his original form.

            "Houshi-sama, Shippou has already tried to call your mother back to reality," Sango said, her boomerang ready to destroy. Miroku looked at her, feeling as if his memory of his family was being desecrated and torn apart. "There is no hope of return for her. So if you cannot kill her, I will," Sango said, schooling her face into that of a hardened warrior. She rushed forward to meet the giant snake, dodging the venom that the snake tried to shoot at her.

            "Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled, swinging the massive boomerang with all her might. The snake just deflected the attack by hitting it up into the air.

            "Sango!" Miroku shouted as Mai was about to use her tail to knock Sango out. He ran to Sango and knocked her down, letting the large snake's tail pass over the both of them without harm.

            "Sorry, Sango," Miroku said, getting up. "But you are right. My only choice is to destroy her."

            "Houshi-sama," Sango said, knowing how difficult it was to slay someone whom you had once loved dearly. "You don't have to—"

            "No, Sango," Miroku said, his staff ready to battle the human-turned-youkai. "This is something that I must do." _Because I can't bear seeing someone like that… Someone like my mother becoming like that…_

            "Oi! Snake!" Inuyasha shouted up to the snake to distract her. "Your life ends here now!" The distraction worked, and the snake started moving towards Inuyasha, giving Miroku and Sango the chance to go to Kirara and ride on the cat youkai to slay the woman demented by sorrow.

            "You will stop interrupting me, boy!" Mai shouted, managing to knock Inuyasha back.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, her bows and arrows ready in case of an emergency. When the dust settled down, she saw that Inuyasha had turned human. _Like… Like the time we were fighting the oni,_ she thought. _But this time, there is no feeling of great youki coming from him, or that mysterious power. He just feels… **Human**._

            "Inuyasha!" Sango shouted in worry, throwing the boomerang to keep the snake from attacking him.

            "Damn it!" Inuyasha shouted as he dodged another attack from the snake. Hiraikotsu landed uselessly behind him.

            "This is where you die," she said, neither happy nor sad, her mouth open to inject the poison into him.

            "Gomen nasai, Okaa-sama," Miroku said, getting ready to send his mother to the other world with the power of his staff. "But it's time to put you to rest." He thrust his staff forward as Kirara got closer to the snake, sending sparks of power and causing the snake to scream in agony.

            "Get away from me, Shigure!" she screamed, lashing out at Miroku again. Kirara quickly backed off, protecting her two passengers from danger. _Does she still think that Miroku is her husband? _wondered Sango, knowing that the woman before her held no reason in her mind.

            "Mai, you must stop!" Mushin said desperately. "You must stop before you do something you will regret even more! He isn't Shigure!" he shouted at her, trying to make her see the truth. "He's Miroku!"

            "I know that!" she said in a terrible voice, filled with all the dark emotions of the world. "He isn't Shigure! He is Miroku! But he is the Miroku that Shigure influenced! He is the Miroku that Shigure tainted with his sins!" She swung her tail around in a large arc, nearly knocking Sango and Miroku off Kirara. "I want my son back!" she sobbed in anger and frustration.

            The snake opened her mouth and let out a stream of poison, causing the nearby plants to turn black with venom. Inuyasha quickly picked up the boomerang and dodged out of the way.

            "Shigure!" she screamed, turning on Miroku. "Give me Miroku back! Do you hear me? Give him back!" she shouted, lunging forward to clamp her mouth down on Miroku. Kirara quickly sped away, but the speed of the snake could not be denied, and the snake quickly turned around and knocked Miroku off the giant cat.

            "Miroku!" Sango shouted in fear.

            "Get away from him!" the snake hissed at Sango, surrounding Miroku with her tail.

            "Get it through your fucking head!" Inuyasha shouted, "He isn't Shigure or whatever the Hell you think he is!"

            "Do not speak of what you do not know!" she said, momentarily distracted by Inuyasha and turning to glare at him. "Shigure is there! I can see it! Shigure has consumed him!"

            "What are you talking about?" demanded Mushin, fearing for Miroku's life.

            "Are you all blind?" she raged. "Miroku did not look like this!" She pounded the ground with her tail, causing everyone to lose their balance as they felt the earth move beneath them.

            "Okaa-sama," Miroku said, his paper spells ready to use in his hand. "Please forgive me." With a flick of his wrist, the spells flew from his hand and landed on the snake's neck and heart, their power burning and immobilizing her, causing her to scream in pain and despair. She fell to the ground, her body making a terrible thudding noise as the earth shook one last time. Her chest moved with difficultly as she struggled to breathe, her body returning to that of a woman.

            Her eyes were still filled with fury as she glared at Sango, determined that she was the woman who had led her family away from her.

            "Kitsune, transform Miroku to a young child," Mushin said quickly. Shippou didn't understand what the old priest hoped to accomplish by this, but did as he was told, trying to do his best to hold the illusion.

            Sango watched in silence as she saw a child Miroku approaching his mother. She bit her lip in worry, hoping that should the woman attack, he would still be able to defend himself.

            "Okaa-sama?" Miroku asked in a child's voice, his voice quivering slightly with emotion. Sango couldn't tell if he was just acting, or if this was his true emotion. His voice caught the woman's attention, and she slowly turned to him, unable to move the majority of her body.

            "Miroku?" she asked, her voice soft and filled with concern and hidden pain.

            "It's me, Okaa-sama," Miroku said in a hope-filled voice, walking closer to his mother. "It's me." He knelt near his mother, brushing stray strands of hair away from her face.

            "Miroku," she said, smiling, but her voice shook with silent sobs. "I'm sorry you have to see me like this," she said quietly, a gasp escaping from her throat as she tried to suppress her tears and the agony she felt.

            "It's all right, Okaa-sama," Miroku said, trying his best to smile. Kagome moved closer to Sango and patted her back, her gesture telling Sango not to worry. Sango smiled back to her friend, glad of her companionship.

            "Have you been a good child?" his mother asked, closing her eyes as her breathing became more ragged.

            "Hai, Okaa-sama," Miroku said, trying his best not to cry as he saw his mother dying. "I-I finished copying the scriptures. I finished it this morning."

            "That's good," she sighed, opening her eyes to look at him. "You'll grow up to be a good man," she said, her arms moving slightly as if to hug him. He took the initiative and hugged her, feeling his mother wrap her arms around him gently, just like she used to. He hated for her to go, right after he finally met her again, but he knew that it was inevitable.

            "I have faith in you, Miroku," she said, feeling her worn soul fading away. "Try not to be influenced by your father's evils," she whispered, growing increasingly tired.

            "I will," Miroku whispered back. His mother let go of the embrace, looking at him with pride and love. Finally, she smiled as she faded from her false body, her soul returning from whence it came.

            Shippou let out a gasp for air as the illusion faded away, and the small kitsune collapsed on the ground, his energy spent. Miroku stood up, recomposing himself, and once his mask was in place, he headed back to the others.

            "So she's gone," Inuyasha said, handing Sango her boomerang. Miroku turned and saw that he was still in his human form, and wondered what had occurred for such a thing to happen, allowing this distraction to keep his mind away from other matters.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, running towards him with Shippou resting in her arms. "Is it… Is it like before?" she asked, concern overwhelming her.

            " 'Like before?'" asked Miroku, looking at the three suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

            "Why don't you all come back in the temple?" Mushin asked, walking towards them, and for once looking somber. "There are many things to be explained, not least of which concerns your mother." The old man disappeared back in the building, and the others walked in, feeling burdened by secrets and the unknown in the air.

            "So, Mushin-sama, care to explain yourself first?" asked Miroku, looking at the monk suspiciously. "If I remember correctly, my mother died of an epidemic when she went to the village, right?"

            Mushin seated himself on the floor and looked at Miroku, knowing that it was time for him to know the truth concerning the deaths of his mother and father.

            "Your mother left for the village, but she did not die of an epidemic," he finally said. "But before I tell you what she did next, you must first understand your mother before she met your father."

            "Oh really?" asked Miroku, sitting down along with the others. He buried his emotions for later, wanting only to concentrate on the business at hand. He could feel Sango looking at him with worry, but he ignored her for the time being. He didn't think he could take any more prods at his feelings for the rest of the day.

            "She was a beautiful dancer and singer," Mushin started. "People used to go to Kyoto just to see her perform. She was that good. And when your father met her, he decided to court her. And little by little, he won her heart, until she finally decided to marry him. But something happened so he had to leave unexpectedly, leaving her alone in the capital.

            "The place she was working at kicked her out once her pregnancy became obvious. I suppose that she was of no use to them once she grew large with child," Mushin said, shaking his head. "And for a couple months, she wandered the streets, looking for work, singing for money, for she did not feel well enough to dance, and begging for food when she became desperate. One day, your father appeared in the city again, and took her back to this temple. When she arrived here, she was so pale and thin that I had thought Shigure had brought back a corpse."

            "Then they got married?" Shippou asked with childish innocence.

            "I'm sorry to say that neither of them ever got married," Mushin said.

            "Why?" asked Kagome, wondering what kind of man this Shigure was.

            "Shigure never got around to it," Mushin shrugged. "So I suppose that Mai had every reason to become angry. In any case, she had Miroku here, and still bore her love for her 'husband,' but when she found out that he was chasing girls even after all his promises to her, she started to become furious with jealousy. I don't blame her. She lost everything because of her love for him. She could have had anything that she had wanted before he came, even marrying the son of a great lord, but your father took all that away from her and left her nothing, except for you, of course."

            "And this drove her to madness?" asked Miroku, knowing he had copied his father's footsteps, despite his mother's wish against it. Well, he knew that the one thing he was never going to do was make Sango into someone twisted like his mother. He would never, ever betray her trust and do that.

            "Yes. It came to a point where whenever the two of them met each other, a fight was surely to follow," Mushin continued. "Shigure came with the rain, and left with the sun. He was rarely at this temple, and when Mai insisted on going with him, he turned her down, telling her that it was too dangerous for her. She never understood why his life would be so dangerous, for in his effort to shield her, he told her nothing of the dangers he faced, nor the curse upon his hand. She thought that he wanted to be free to play with the girls, while he thought that she was being too possessive.

            "But I know your father never stopped loving your mother. The same goes for your mother. But at that point, their love for each other became a burden; each tried to protect the other from what they deemed was too unpleasant for the other to know. Your father never told your mother what he was doing, and your mother never told him that she was upset by the rumors of his actions for she didn't want to hurt him. Then one day he said he wasn't going to be coming back for a year, and I believe that broke your mother.

            "He left, and for several months, was not seen again. I knew that he had gone off to find Naraku, for each year the hole in his hand grew bigger, until I was certain that it would swallow him up at anytime. But I did not tell your mother, because your father had instructed me not to do such a thing," Mushin said regretfully. "I should have. In the end, she went to the village to start looking for your father. One day, your father returned to this place and told me what had become of her. Her emotions of desertion by Shigure and finally gotten to her, and your father told me that he had seen her in the form of a snake, trying to kill him for betraying her.

            "On the day that your father was swallowed up by his Kazaana, your mother was here," Mushin said. "No one told you because no one wanted you to see your mother in such a terrible form, trying to kill your father. Your father went outside the temple to face her, and a battle ensued between them. I'm going to guess that as a last resort, when your father realized your mother could not be saved, he used his Kazaana on her. As she was being sucked in, she probably realized the fragility of his air void, and cut open the hole even wider in hopes of destroying him with her.

            "And she would be right in her assumption. Your mother was very intelligent, Miroku, and so was your father. But in the end, their intellect did not save them, and rather, they were destroyed by it," Mushin said, standing up to get a jug of sake. "Your father's methodical way of thinking led him to use the Kazaana, and your mother's ability to improvise caused her to widen the air rip. And they left you with no one except me."

            Miroku stared hard at the wooden floor, keeping his emotions in check. _So my parents destroyed each other, _he thought cynically. _And love is supposed to conquer all? _Sango's warm hand suddenly engulfed his, and he looked at her in surprise. She only smiled at him, trying to comfort him, and squeezed his hand, telling him without words that it everything would be fine. He squeezed her hand in return, and didn't miss the blush that came to her cheeks. Surprisingly, he was comforted by her small gesture, and secretly thanked her.

            "She must have wanted to destroy you because she thought that you were Shigure," Mushin said thoughtfully. "After all, you do look very much like your father."

            "Maybe she didn't recognize Miroku," Kagome said. "She died when he was still a child, right? So maybe in her memories, he should still be a child."

            "Because in her mind, I never grew up," Miroku said quietly. "I suppose she hates my father so much that since I resemble him, she didn't hesitate to try and kill me."

            "She didn't want to kill you for looking like your father," Mushin said. "She was trying to destroy what she saw was her failure. She believed she made a mistake in befriending your father, and she felt that she had made another on when she saw the similarities between your father and yourself, for she had tried hard to bring you up to be someone better than Shigure."

            "So you made me turn Miroku into a kid so that she would see Miroku as someone who could still hope to be different from Miroku's dad?" asked Shippou, having recovered from his fatigue.

            "Yes," Mushin said, shaking his had sadly. "The reason that Shigure and Mai fought in the end was probably over Miroku. After all, Shigure told me that he was going to set a warding around the temple to keep Mai from visiting Miroku the day before he died."

            "So it was a child custody battle," Kagome said to herself, no one else really understanding what she meant.

            "I suppose that your explanation is sufficient," Miroku said, taking his hand out of Sango's. She put her hand back in her lap, not offended by his want of semi-privacy, and turned to look at the other three in their group with strangely guilty faces on. "And now, Kagome-sama, Inuyasha, Shippou," Miroku said, looking at them. "Would you care to explain what you meant earlier?"

            "Well," Kagome started when Inuyasha declined to say anything. "The day when you were attacked at the kitsune village, we were attacked by a group of oni," she said.

            "And you didn't think this was important enough to tell us?" asked Miroku, gesturing to himself and Sango.

            "Inuyasha didn't want us to tell you!" Shippou said, laying all the blame on Inuyasha.

            "Why would you do that?" asked Sango, looking at Inuyasha who was currently finding the scenery outside to be much more interesting. She frowned, frustrated with the walls that Inuyasha kept around him, remembering that Kohaku used to be easier to pry open than Inuyasha.

            "Inuyasha… When he was fighting the oni, the oni kept on putting this strange powder on him," Kagome said, her voice filled with worry. "At first I didn't think the powder did anything, but then, when this one oni dumped the entire thing on Inuyasha, Inuyasha just collapsed on the ground and—and became almost like a human."

            "You make me sound weak," Inuyasha grumbled, trying to figure out what was in that powder. He may not have told the others, but for the past few days, he had been discreetly sniffing the herbs that they encountered, hoping to find something close to the scent of that strange powder, but without success.

            "What do you mean, 'almost like a human?'" asked Miroku, ignoring Inuyasha's comment.

            "He looked human, but his youki—um, well, his youki almost disappeared for a moment," Kagome said, trying to explain it successfully. "And was replaced with something else. I don't know what it was but then, that power disappeared too, and was replaced by an even stronger youki."

            "And then Inuyasha just blew all the oni away with one swing from Tessaiga," Shippou said. "The entire forest was flattened."

            "The entire forest?" asked Sango in surprise.

            "It wasn't the entire forest," Inuyasha said. "And this is nothing to worry about. I'll have it figured out soon."

            "Oh really?" asked Miroku. "Then what about right now? Why are you human right now?"

            "How would I know, stupid?" Inuyasha grouched.

            "You should have told us from the start," Miroku said.

            "So that you can worry about something you can't do anything about?" demanded Inuyasha. "Thanks, but no thanks."

            "Well, at least we would know, or at least be less surprised if such a thing should happen again," Sango said, a bit irritated, and starting to grow worried for him.

            "Who cares?" grumbled Inuyasha.

            "Don't be so stubborn and just admit you're wrong," Shippou said wisely.

            "Just shut up," Inuyasha said, not bothering to bonk Shippou on the head. Shippou ran over to Kagome just in case Inuyasha might change his mind later.

            "We should go back to Kaede-baa-chan to see if she can help us," Kagome said.

            "But—" Miroku was about to protest about Mushin, but the monk interrupted him.

            "I'm fine, Miroku. This is more important than a slight hangover I got from drinking a strangely colored sake," he said shamelessly. "Hachi just overreacted. I wasn't ill to begin with, but I must say that I am touched by your concern." He suddenly coughed again. Miroku frowned.

            "The sake is just strong, that's all," he said, handing the jug to Miroku. Miroku sniffed the sake a little, and got dizzy from just smelling it.

            "You drink this?" asked Miroku. "No wonder you're coughing."

            "What did I tell you? Now go," he said.

            "Let's go," Sango said, picking up the boomerang and walking outside. "We should try to get back before sundown."

            "Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome said, dragging Inuyasha out. Kirara transformed to her larger form, and the group sat on the giant cat, ready to depart.

            "Take care of yourself, Houshi-sama!" Kagome waved to Mushin, and Kirara leapt into the air, and they headed back to Kaede's village.

            They arrived before sundown to a familiar voice, and turned to see a small flea leaping towards them.

            "Inuyasha-sama!" Myouga said. "What happened to you?"

            "What are you doing here, Myouga-jiijii?" asked Inuyasha, walking to Kaede's hut.

            "I have news to tell you," the flea said, following his lord inside the hut. Kagome set her heavy pack down, taking out the instant noodles that she had packed away.

            "Kaede-baa-chan, let's just eat this tonight, okay?" she asked as the old lady entered the hut.

            "Of course, Kagome," she answered, then turned to look at Inuyasha. "Why do you look like a human today, Inuyasha?"

            "How would I know?" he growled, getting annoyed by their interrogations. Not to mention that he was starting to feel a weight in his bones that was starting to make him tired and sleepy. He fought it, though, not wanting to worry anyone else any more than he had to.

            "Myouga-sama, would you know anything about this?" asked Miroku to the flea, hoping that he would have some answers.

            "It seems to me that there is a spell cast upon you," Myouga said, trying to discern the nature of the spell.

            "Like the spell Tsubaki placed on Kagome?" wondered Shippou out loud.

            "This enchantment is not of this world," he said, his brows furrowed in thought. "It is not done by a youkai or human. It is something else entirely."

            "Is it similar to this?" asked Inuyasha, taking a piece of cloth out from his sleeve. He opened whatever the cloth was covering and revealed some glowing powder.

            "Wha—What is this?" asked Myouga, looking closely at the powder.

            "Where did you get that powder?" asked Kagome, looking at the fine, shining dust in the cloth.

            "There was still some left on my clothes after I wiped those oni out," Inuyasha said, shrugging. Everyone else gave him a weird look, not believing him to be smart enough to save some of the mysterious powder. "What?" he demanded angrily. "You think I'm stupid or something?"

            "Well, I originally thought you weren't smart enough to do that, but I suppose I have to refine my thoughts again," Miroku said mildly.

            "Shut up, bouzu," Inuyasha snarled. He turned to the flea youkai. "Well? Is it similar or not?"

            "It seems to have come from the same source but the nature of each is drastically different," Myouga said, taking a tiny grain of powder in his hands. The powder disappeared upon contact.

            "Don't touch it!" Inuyasha snapped, rewrapping the cloth around the precious clue. "It disappears whenever it touches the skin."

            "And how would you know that?" asked Shippou.

            "You stupid! How do you think I tried to get this junk off me?" Inuyasha shouted at the kitsune.

            "Eep! You don't have to be mean about it," Shippou said, hiding behind Kagome.

            "Dinner is ready, so let's just start eating," Kagome suggested, trying to disperse the tension in the air. They did as she suggested, trying to ignore the fact that strange things were happening recently.

            He paced in the halls of heaven with annoyance, irritated that his plan had failed. The woman he had sent had failed to kill any of them, and now she was back in Hell, this time getting ready to be reincarnated. He punched a nearby wall out of frustration, the wall crumbling under his force, but immediately repairing itself.

            "Humans, even when they are dead, can do nothing right," he muttered. If he didn't come up with another plan soon, his boss was going to have his head.

            He looked at the moon outside and wondered. Should he just let Fate take its course instead of trying to help it along? The moonlight cast an icy glow on the ruins of a mortal's castle somewhere below him, and he wondered.

            "Perhaps I can use _that_ to get rid of him," he said, his face with a smile that was unbecoming of a god.

            "Houshi-sama, I'm worried," Sango said as she carried a bucket of water while Miroku was busy getting another bucket. "Inuyasha, although he denies it, looks more tired than usual to me."

            "It must be an effect of the spell," Miroku grunted, heaving the bucket up. "Whoever is doing this must want him to be weak."

            "Weak enough to kill?" asked Sango quietly as they headed back to Kaede's hut. She was more than a little worried about him at this point, having seen Inuyasha go through more difficulties before. This unseen spell was starting to scare her. At least when Kagome was under the spell, it had been pretty obvious as to what the source was, but this new one… It left no trace, and seemed to have no purpose. She shivered suddenly, feeling as if a strange wind had just passed near her.

            "Are you cold?" asked Miroku, trying not to spill the water. She shook her head, and couldn't help but feel that there was something out there, watching their every move.

            "We're back with the water, Kaede-sama," Miroku said, putting the bucket down. Kirara was in her larger form, and it looked like Inuyasha was sleeping peacefully against her, but Miroku knew better than that. Besides, it looked like he was starting to have trouble breathing.

            "What happened?" asked Sango, remembering Inuyasha to still be awake when she left a few minutes ago.

            "He just started falling asleep, so I went to get Kaede-baa-chan in the fields," Kagome said, biting her lip in worry. "I told Kirara to transform and keep an eye on him."

            "And he's been asleep since we've come back," Kaede said, trying to piece together what was happening.

            "Where is Myouga-sama?" asked Miroku, looking around for the ancient flea.

            "He disappeared some time ago," Kagome said, her voice showing none of her emotions. They all knew what that meant. When Myouga disappeared, it meant danger was soon coming.

            "Kagome-chan, take Inuyasha to your world again," Sango said suddenly. "Maybe the spell will wear off if he's in your world. The person who's doing the spell can't possibly penetrate through the well, right?" she asked, turning to the others to see their opinion.

            "Sango is right. I'm going to guess that something is going to come here to attack Inuyasha, so it would be in our best interests to get Inuyasha away from this place," Miroku said. He didn't bother hiding the apprehension in his voice. Things were just happening too fast lately.

            "All right," Kagome said, getting her pack ready.

            "Inuyasha, wake up," Shippou said, shaking Inuyasha a bit. Emerald green eyes met hazy lavender ones as Inuyasha opened his eyes, trying to wake himself up. With effort, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, trying to keep himself awake.

            "Inuyasha, we're going to my house, okay?" Kagome said, worry starting to eat her heart. She extended her hand to Inuyasha and helped pull him up, while Kirara pushed him from behind. "I'll come back every three days, okay?" Kagome asked the others. "Try to find out who's doing this, so that…"

            "We know, Kagome-chan," Sango said. "I just hope you can handle Inuyasha until we do."

            "Don't worry about that," Kagome said, trying to smile.

            "Stop talking about me as if I'm not here," Inuyasha said grumpily in an effort to return the atmosphere to one that was more normal. "Oi, Miroku," he said, his voice still sounding tired. He tossed the white cloth with the powder to Miroku. "Try to figure this out."

            "I'll do my best not to disappoint you, Inuyasha," Miroku said, catching the package.

            "Kirara, protect them until they get to the well," Kaede said the cat. "I want the rest of you to follow me. We're going to have to start gathering and testing herbs to find one that matches the qualities of that powder."

            "The sooner we find the herb, the better, right?" asked Shippou, trying not to let his fear get to him. Kaede nodded. Kagome and Inuyasha left the hut, with Inuyasha stumbling a bit, while Kirara followed after them. Sango clenched her fists tightly. Whatever was happening to Inuyasha, she would get to the bottom of it. She absolutely was not going to lose someone else she cared for in this lifetime.

            "Hey look, they're leaving the house," Raijin said, watching the village closely. "Do we attack them now?"

            "Idiot," Fuujin said, rolling his eyes. "Can't you see that there's a cat youkai protecting them? Besides, the plan is to get him alone so that no one will suspect us, you nitwit."

            "I don't see why we have to care if someone did suspect us," Raijin said angrily.

            "If someone is suspicious of us, then Ryuten-sama's plan will go to waste," the God of Wind said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Not to mention the Great Emperor would waste us."

            "He wouldn't find out," Raijin thundered.

            "How do you know?" asked Fuujin.

            "Because Ryuten-sama told me something that he didn't tell you," Raijin said smugly.

            "Why would he do that?" asked the Wind God.

            "Because he doesn't like you," the Thunder God taunted.

            "Why you little—!"

            "I'm bigger than you are," Raijin said. Raijin was about to throw a punch when Fuujin smacked him on the head with wind.

            "Look what you've done! Now they're gone again!" he said, pointing to the village devoid of their target.

            "It wasn't my fault," Raijin said, crossing his arms. "You're the one who wanted to fight."

            "Why, oh why, do I have to work with such idiots?!" Fuujin lamented to the heavens. The heavens had no answer for him.

**Miscellaneous Comments and Such: **Do you people mind if the chapters are this long? This chapter is actually the first half of the original chapter, but I don't think I can finish a near 30 page chapter anytime soon, so I split it into two so you people can read what I've already written. But the question is, do you mind such long chapters, or would you prefer them to be divided into smaller ones? I just don't want to bore you with these excessively long chapters…

Avalon: not a Japanese term, if you don't know what this is already. A land in the western sea where supposedly King Arthur went to after he died. I guess it would sort of be like heaven or the Elysian Fields.

Amaterasu o-mi-kami is the Sun Goddess who is the supreme ruler of all the heavens. The first emperor of Japan is one of her sons, and she has three sacred treasures, of which I'm not going to tell you because then that'll ruin the surprise.

Mai: her name is supposed to mean "dance." You know, like Kagura's "Fuujin no Mai."

Shigure: literally means "time rain." I think.

Oda Nobunaga: a real historical character. Everything that Kagome read about him is true, and I know because I did research on him. His actions will affect the group later.

The story of a woman becoming a snake because of an unfaithful monk is actually from a Japanese tale that I cannot remember the name of. Basically she fell in love with the monk, the monk ran off with another woman, she got mad and became a snake and then went after the monk. Sort of like with Miroku's parents, right?

The plot thickens in the next chapter! Let's just say that whatever plan Fuujin and Raijin have for Inuyasha, it'll work. ^_^


	7. It Begins with Death

Author's Note: Sorry for the slow update. CAT 6, AP, IB tests, blah blah blah. Not to mention I rewrote this chapter a few times because I didn't like it. Actually, I still don't like it, but oh well… I'll rewrite it again later. Maybe.

Hey, Chri, your link to that page on Nobunaga was very interesting. Thanks! And all you people out there who are actually reading this: read Chri's story. It's called Settle the Score. It's really, really, _really _good. (And I usually don't make recommendations like this, so this tells you how good it is.) 

A God's Game

****

Chapter VII: It Begins with Death 

            Kagome landed roughly on the bottom of the well with Inuyasha, trying to prop him up and keep him from falling on his face. Not long after they arrived in her world, Inuyasha stood up by himself again, his back straight and a familiar scowl on his face. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The way Inuyasha had been a moment before… She didn't ever want to see him like that again. She couldn't stand to see he who always held himself together to be suddenly dependent and vulnerable.

            So she watched in quiet relief as he flexed his fingers, feeling the blood of his father free in his veins again. He looked at her, seemingly questioning her with his eyes.

            "What?" she asked, glad to see those warm, golden eyes of his glowing with life again.

            "Ah… It's nothing," he said, deciding not to ask her. He didn't want her to keep on worrying about him. He could see beneath that smile of hers, and knew that even now, she worried. But he wanted to know what had happened in the last few minutes.

            He remembered them talking about him being under someone's spell, and Myouga had said that it may have been connected to whatever motive it had been behind the band of Oni and their strange powder. But everything after that seemed foggy to him. He had tried his best to stay awake and alert, but little by little, something had wore him away until he felt the urge to sleep irresistible. He knew that he shouldn't, couldn't, and wouldn't fall asleep, but it was like he had been slowly dragged away from his consciousness. The last few minutes that he had spent talking to his friends was like a dream that was slowly, but surely being forgotten at that very moment. He remembered giving Miroku the powder, then coming here, and wondered if there was something else that he had forgotten.

            It kind of reminded him of the times Kagome had tried to defend herself for falling asleep when she was studying for her "tests." He remembered one time he had seen her fall asleep on her book, and decided not to wake her up, only to get her yelling at him in the morning for not keeping her awake. And when questioned as to why she had fallen asleep if she didn't want to, she had simply said that she couldn't resist. To think that he had thought her a fool then, only to have the same thing occur to him…

            "Inuyasha?" Kagome asked again, getting worried when he didn't respond. He seemed to suddenly remember where he was.

            "All right," he growled, looking dangerous. "I'm going to kick the ass of whoever did this to me," he said, seemingly embarrassed about something and angry at the same time. Kagome wondered what was wrong with him now.

            "Inuyasha, let's go tell my mom that you're here," Kagome said, climbing out of the well. Inuyasha leapt up after her. He looked down at the well, and she thought he looked as if he wanted to go back to the other world. But why would he? He was safer here, and wouldn't be affected by the spell, as he should know after their discussion before. _So why? _Kagome thought. It wasn't that he didn't like her home, did he?

            In truth, he was curious about what was happening in the other world. Were Miroku and the others really going to figure out a way to help him? He turned and saw Kagome looking a little distressed. What was wrong now? He tried to look at her straight in the face, but she turned her head and started walking off towards her house, seeming as if she were hurt by something.

            "Oi, Kagome," he called out, walking after her. "What's wrong?"

            "You just have to stay here a while," Kagome said, still not facing him. "It won't be too long."

            He stopped in his steps. What did she mean by that? She didn't want him here? Was that what she was trying to say?

            "Inuyasha, what—?"

            "It's not like anyone is forcing you to keep me here," he said, his voice sounding irritated.

            "What do you mean?" asked Kagome, frowning. _Does Inuyasha think I don't want him to stay? _Kagome thought. _But why would he think that? I thought **he** didn't want to stay here._

            "No one forced me to allow you to stay at my house," Kagome said firmly. "In fact, I'm happy you're staying here, and I _want _you to stay here as long as you want to." _And I wouldn't mind if you wanted to stay here forever, _she thought, but kept that to herself.

            Inuyasha looked confused for a moment, so she decided to take him to her house before they started having another one of their fights. She could feel his warm hand in hers, and tried to keep herself from grinning like a fool. _But truly, I feel as if he really is my boyfriend…_

            And she couldn't stop herself from smiling when she felt him hold _her_ hand firmer in his grasp. She had to slow down in order to keep herself from accidentally pulling her hand out of his, so she slowed to a pace that matched Inuyasha's. In the warm glow of the summer moon, she walked next to Inuyasha, surrounded by the ancient shrine that was her home. The "mood," as she liked to call it, was mysterious, and a little romantic as they walked, hand in hand in lover's moonlight.

            She was glad Eri wasn't there to embarrass her, and wished that she and Inuyasha could spend the rest of the night just walking together in peace, and maybe—

            "Oi!" Inuyasha said more loudly this time. What was wrong with this girl? She kept on spacing out on him, and she had that goofy face that she usually had on when she was thinking about one of her stupid "romantic" thoughts, like she did when Miroku first called her a beautiful lady. He had to admit that she looked cute, but still, this girl had the attention span of a flea, and it was a wonder as to how she could have survived all these years. Then again, Kagome did remember some things for a really long time…

            "Okay, okay, I'm ringing the doorbell. See?" she said as she rang the bell to her house. _That Inuyasha, _she thought, a little frustrated. _Ruining a perfectly good "mood" that was going on. He's **so** not romantic. Couldn't he just feel the lo—_

            "Kagome?" her mother asked in surprise as she saw the girl before her.

            "Tadaima!" Kagome said cheerfully, pulling Inuyasha into the house.

            "O-Okaeri," her mother said, closing the door behind her, still looking mildly confused. "Well, I have to go prepare dinner, so you keep Inuyasha company until then." Kagome smiled after her mother, knowing that her mother rarely stayed surprised for long.

            "Inu-nii-chan!" Souta said happily, bounding down the steps once he heard his sister's voice. "Did you bring Inu-nii-chan with you?" He saw Inuyasha standing there, and immediately smiled. "Guess what? Guess what?" Souta said excitedly to Inuyasha. "I finally wrote it like you told me to. Come up and see!" Souta grabbed Inuyasha's hand before he could protest and led the older boy upstairs to his room.

            "Write…what?" Kagome wondered to herself.

            "Oh! Kagome!" her grandfather said, surprised. "What are you doing back here at this hour? Was there some sort of problem?"

            "Oh, no, Jii-chan," Kagome answered, deciding not to tell her grandfather about their recent problem. She knew that he was already worried about her, so there was no reason for her to get him more worked up about something that he could not help with anyway.

            "You usually come home in the day time, so why—"

            "Do you remember Sango-chan and Miroku-sama?" Kagome asked her grandfather, and starting to spin a lie. "Well, Sango-chan asked me if I could take Inuyasha with me to this time period, so that she and Miroku-sama could have some private time to sort things out…"

            Sango suddenly sneezed, and almost dropped the herbs that she was holding. She rubbed her nose, and wondered if someone had been talking about her, or if the herbs were starting to irritate her nose. Who knew that Kaede had a storeroom of spare herbs just ready to be identified?

            "Sango, do you need to step out for a moment?" Miroku asked, looking concerned.

            "No thanks," she said, "We have to find out what this powder is made of so that we can quickly stop the spell on Inuyasha."

            Miroku nodded in agreement, and went back to sorting through the dusty, dried collection of grasses. Sango looked at the plants in her hands and tried to identify if any of them smelled even remotely similar to the powder. The glowing powder had a soft peach scent to it, and smelled heavenly. The scent was soothing, but Sango knew that the powder was far from being an object of comfort. She sniffed each herb in her hand carefully, trying to see if any of them smelled the same. It was times like these that she wished that she had Inuyasha's powers.

            "What's this?" asked Miroku as he reached deep into one of the shelves to take an obscure herb out.

            "No! Don't!" Kaede started, but it was too late, and the entire shelf tumbled down and fell on Miroku, spilling the healing plants everywhere and covering the room with dust. Sango coughed while trying to make out where Miroku and Kaede were.

            "Houshi-dono, I tried to tell you," Kaede said once the dust settled down and she saw the monk on the middle of the floor, covered with leaves. "What you were reaching for was a piece of vine that I used to tie that section of the shelf together with. Pulling it out was not the brightest idea."

            "If only you'd warned me earlier," Miroku said, picking himself off the ground. A pattering of tiny feet could be heard outside and a moment later, Shippou appeared in the room.

            "I got more herbs!" the child said proudly, before seeing what a catastrophe the storeroom looked. "What happed to you?" asked Shippou as Miroku brushed the numerous leaves off him.

            "It is not particularly important," Miroku said smoothly, trying to salvage what dignity he had left.

            "Yeah right," Shippou said, but didn't push the issue. "Kirara also found something that smells almost the same as the powder!"

            "Oh?" asked Kaede as she walked out to greet the giant cat.

            "I put it in Kirara's fur," Shippou said, scrambling up Kirara to find the mysterious plant. He snatched a round looking object from the cat's fur and showed it to Kaede.

            "This is a peach pit," Kaede said, "it is not what—" She paused for a moment and considered. "Maybe… Maybe…"

            The others just exchanged looks, wondering what the old lady was thinking about.

            "Ahh… Ureshii," Kagome said joyfully, lying on her soft bed. _Oden is truly the best food in the world! It's like food for the gods, _she thought, smiling happily at the memory of dinner. _And Inuyasha was nice, and didn't even cuss once throughout dinner. I must have died and gone to heaven…_

            "Oi, Kagome," Inuyasha said, entering her room without asking. "You seen Souta around here?"

            "No," she said sitting up on her bed. "And next time ask permission before you enter a girl's room."

            "Keh!" was all he answered as he left once again to hunt her brother. _They're so immature, _she thought as she decided to open a book and try to study things that she should have learned by this time. _Playing hide-n-seek… Especially Inuyasha! I mean, how old is he, playing around like an immature middle school kid… _She thought about that for a moment. How old was Inuyasha, anyway?

            "Kagome!" her grandfather said, bursting through her room without permission. "Look at what your brother wrote! It's beautiful isn't it? Finally, someone to carry on the tradition of this shrine's Ofuda…" her grandfather prattled on. She looked at the calligraphy on the spell paper, and had to say that she was impressed with Souta's penmanship. But where had he…?

            "Ne, Jii-chan," Kagome said, frowning in thought. "Where did Souta learn how to write like this? The style seems a little bit on the ancient side if you ask me."

            "Ah, Kagome," her grandfather started. "Inuyasha was the one who taught him. And as to it looking ancient—"

            "Inuyasha taught Souta?" Kagome asked in surprise. "_Inuyasha?_ Are we talking about the Inuyasha I know or what?" she asked, not knowing that her friend could read, much less write.

            "Yes, of course," her grandfather said, a little annoyed with her interruption. "Only he would be able to write like someone before the Sengoku Jidai. Now, about the history of this writing—"

            "_Before?_ What do you mean 'before the Sengoku Jidai?'" Kagome asked, curiously.

            "As I was going to say, Kagome, before you so rudely interrupted me, Inuyasha's writing looks like something from the Heian Era," her grandfather said, getting into his storytelling position. "Now the history of the Heian period begins with—"

            "Heian?!" asked Kagome in surprise. "That would make Inuyasha _at least_ three hundred years old!" _And at the most, at the most… Seven hundred years old! Wha—? I never even thought he could be **that**__old! You'd think that if he were that old, at least he'd get some common sense in that head of his, _she thought, wondering why Inuyasha acted like an idiot most of the time.

            "But the style is distinctly from that period!" her grandfather insisted. "As you know…" her grandfather started again.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, walking out of the room, and leaving her grandfather behind. _Is he really that old? That means… That means that he's like an old man! _She felt kind of sick, but at the same time she wondered how an old man could manage to act as naïve as Inuyasha.

            "What? What's wrong?" asked Inuyasha, by her side in a moment, looking around for any sign of danger.

            "Oh, don't worry," Kagome said as she realized what Inuyasha was doing. "There's no enemy. I just wanted to ask you how old you are." He gave her a funny look.

            "How old I am?" he asked, disbelieving himself to have heard correctly. "Next time, don't call me so urgently for such a stupid question." He started to walk off again.

            "So how old are you?" Kagome asked, chasing after him.

            "Doesn't matter," he said, crouching on the floor to see if her brother was hiding anywhere near him. He sniffed the air, and frowned, getting up from the floor. _Kid must be outside, _he thought, heading for the door. _That's why I can't smell where he is right now._

            "Inuyasha," Kagome said, in an impatient whine. "Just tell me, and I promise I won't bother you again." _Why does she want to know, anyway? _Inuyasha thought. _It doesn't matter what age I am, though she does seemed bothered by the question…_

            "I'm as old as you want me to be," Inuyasha said, sniffing the night air once, then jumping after a squeaking bush. "Heh, gotcha!" he said triumphantly as Souta pouted.

            "Hey, no fair," Souta said as he stood up, brushing himself off. "You can smell where I am and I can't."

            "Inuyasha, that's not even an answer," Kagome said, as Inuyasha and Souta returned to the house. "What if I said that you were two thousand years old?"

            "Then I'm two thousand years old," Inuyasha said.

            "But you're not!" Kagome insisted. "And I want to know how old you are."

            "Why?" Inuyasha asked curiously. He couldn't think of any logical reason as to why anyone would care about another's age so much. Though he might as well tell her. It wasn't like it was going to cost him anything, and Kagome did seem pretty troubled about the matter.

            "Because—Because," Kagome said as if that were a reason.

            "Fifteen," Inuyasha said. Souta started dragging him off again.

            "Let's go play this new game I got," Souta said eagerly.

            "_Fifteen?_" asked Kagome, doubting the answer. "Jii-chan said that your writing style is from—"

            "The Heian period," Inuyasha completed for her. "I know, I know."

            "Inuyasha, if it's from the Heian period, that would make you…" Kagome waited for Inuyasha to fill in the blank, but he didn't. "About three hundred years old at the least!" She waited for Inuyasha to accept or deny it, but he didn't do either. He just stood there. "Well?" she demanded, impatient for a reply.

            "What?" he asked. "I already told you. I'm fifteen. You can take it or leave it."

            "Inuyasha, weren't you listening to a word I said?" asked Kagome, realizing this was how her grandfather must have felt when she kept on interrupting him. "I just said that if your writing is from the Heian period, you are at least three hundred years old," Kagome said again for clarity.

            "And weren't you listening?" asked Inuyasha. "I told you that I was fifteen."

            "The numbers don't even come close!" Kagome said, throwing her arms up in impatience and exasperation. "Even if you were sealed for fifty years, that would make you sixty-five years old, and there is no way that sixty-five will ever come close to three hundred."

            "So you want the length of time that I've existed, not my age," said Inuyasha. Kagome looked at him in confusion. Was there even a difference?

            "Okay, let me think about this for a moment," he said, sitting down on a nearby chair. "Fifty years before… Ten years before I met her… Five when I escaped…" _Escaped from what? _Kagome thought, feeling sad that he had probably spent ten horrible years before meeting up with Kikyo. _Maybe Kikyo did bring some happiness into his life, _she thought. _But that doesn't give her any right to kill him!_

            "They said it had been almost…three hundred since the end of that family's reign," he thought out loud. _But when I was there, the family seemed pretty much stable and in power, so it must be a little earlier than that. _"I've existed for about four hundred years. Maybe."

            "Four hundred years?!" Kagome nearly screeched. _Does that mean he's an old man pretending to be a fifteen year old? But why would he do such a thing? _wondered Kagome.

            "That's what I said."

            "Inu-nii-chan is four hundred years old?" asked Souta skeptically.

            "I already told you that the time of my existence is different from my age," Inuyasha said, starting to get irritated.

            "That doesn't even make sense," Kagome said. "How can your existence be different from your age?"

            "Would you count the years I've spent pinned on that tree living?" asked Inuyasha. "Because if you do, then as far as _you_ know, I _am_ fifty years older than I am. But if you don't, then I'm fifteen."

            "Okay, he's answered your questions," Souta said. "Let's go now!" Then he pulled Inuyasha away to the living room to play.

_            I guess I wouldn't count those years sealed as part of his age, _Kagome thought as she walked up the stairs to her room. _But… _She stopped as she sat down at her desk, the thought suddenly dawning on her. _He was sealed for more than three hundred years! Inuyasha was sealed before Kikyo even knew him! _She wondered into what circumstance did Inuyasha get himself sealed in. He couldn't have been more than five at the time, if what he said were true.

            Kagome heard the doorbell downstairs and wondered who could be visiting at such an hour. She heard her mother open the door, and then some murmuring. _I wonder who it is, _Kagome thought, curious about the identity of the visitor. She decided to go down and see who it was, but she didn't reach the bottom of the stairs before hearing who the mystery person was.

            "Wow! Inuyasha is here!" Eri said loudly. Kagome walked down the stairs and saw her friend bother Inuyasha about something. "And Kagome is still awake! This is just incredible!" Eri said, grinning like a fool. "I brought my digital camera to loan to your grandfather, but this is just too good of a chance to pass. Higurashi-san! Higurashi-san!" Eri yelled, trying to get the entire family together for a picture.

            "What's a 'camera?'" asked Inuyasha, a little suspicious of the silver-colored box in Eri's hands.

            "It's a machine to, um…" Kagome tried to think of a good way to explain the object. "It makes a tiny picture by capturing what it sees."

            "Capturing?!" asked Inuyasha in alarm.

            "Oh, no, not that type of capturing," Kagome reassured him. "It just remembers a certain scene so that you can see it later."

            "Is it alive?" asked Inuyasha as Mrs. Higurashi and the sole priest of the Higurashi shrine arrived.

            "No," Kagome said, wondering what kind of question was that.

            "Then how can it remember?" Inuyasha demanded.

            "Never mind," Kagome said, giving up.

            "It's a machine that paints a picture of whatever the scene is when a person pushes the button," Souta explained.

            "An automatic picture maker?" asked Inuyasha. Souta nodded. Kagome looked at Souta. _I guess their brains must travel on the same brain wave or something, _she thought a little grouchily.

            "Oh no," Eri said, upset. "I forgot to charge it up. I guess there's no picture for tonight." Kagome's grandfather went off grumbling something about wasting his time.

            "It's all right, Eri," Mrs. Higurashi said. "You can take as many pictures as you want once you've charged it up, right? So there's no reason to get upset," she said, patting the girl on the shoulder, then exiting to finish whatever it was that she had been doing.

            "I'm going up to study," Kagome said, once again remembering her neglected schoolbooks. If she wasn't careful, she was going to end up _really_ failing ninth grade. She could hear Eri's voice speaking rapidly to Inuyasha, and decided to allow her friend to keep Inuyasha company, while she used this rare opportunity of peace to study.

            Eri stole quietly through the house, trying to find where Inuyasha was. She had somehow convinced Kagome to allow her to stay for the night again, wanting to speak to Inuyasha privately, but Souta kept on hogging him all night, so that she couldn't talk with Inuyasha about anything serious. She had decided to talk to him once everyone was asleep, but now she couldn't find him. He wasn't in his room like she had guessed, and she had already searched the entire house.

_            Don't tell me that he disappears when he sleeps,_ Eri thought skeptically, deciding to check outside to see if he was there. She looked around, saw no one, and was about to head back in when a voice asked her, "What are you doing?" She nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned around and saw Inuyasha on the roof, looking down at her.

            "What are you doing on the roof?" she asked, looking for a ladder up. She saw a tree nearby, and tried to climb it, but failed miserably. Inuyasha scoffed at her efforts and offered his hand. She took it, and a moment later he pulled her up on the roof with him.

            "Don't slip and break your neck now," Inuyasha said, lying down on the roof, looking at the night sky.

            "If I do, you'll catch me, right?" Eri asked jokingly.

            "Is this before or after you break your neck?" Inuyasha asked with a straight face. Eri had to muffle her laughter. "What are you doing up at this hour of the night, anyway?"

_            Looking for you, _she thought, but to him she said, "I couldn't sleep." He looked warily at her. This girl was smart, and if he didn't guess wrong, she was up here for a reason.

            "Count sheep," Inuyasha said, deciding to ignore her. She sighed, and looked at the sky to see what was so interesting about it. It was only a moon and a sprinkling of stars, but other than that, there was nothing. After a few minutes of silence, Eri couldn't stand it anymore. She needed some sort of noise, like the TV on, or the radio blasting, or something! Anything! The silence made goosebumps rise on her arms, and she rubbed them, trying to make them go away.

            "If you're cold, go back inside," said Inuyasha, not bothering to look at her.

            "I'm not cold," Eri said in a factual tone. "And I'll only go back inside once you've answered me some questions truthfully." _Great, _Inuyasha thought. _I knew she'd do something like this._

            "First off, do you like Kagome or not?" Eri said bluntly. No more round about ways to get him to talk. "Kagome's my friend, and I don't want to see her hurt. Do you like her or not? If you do, then I say go for it. But if you don't, then maybe you should stay away from her."

            "How do I hunt for the Shikon shards if she isn't there?" asked Inuyasha.

            "I guess you could be there, but just stay away from Kagome," Eri said. She realized Inuyasha was trying to lead her astray. _You won't turn my questions away that easily, _she thought with determination. "So are you going to answer my question?"

            "What question?" asked Inuyasha.

            "The one about Kagome!" she said exasperatedly. Was he pretending to be senile, or what?

            "Oh, that one," he said rather lazily. "Sure, I like her." Eri knew he wasn't answering her question directly again. Well, the only way to go was to be even more direct.

            "Do you love Kagome?" she asked in a low whisper. She could see him stiffen at her question and give her an annoyed look. He didn't answer her. "Do you love her? You know that Kagome told me about your decision to go with Kikyo, right?" He didn't reply. "Well, if you're going to go with Kikyo, why don't you just ask Kikyo to search for the shards with you and let Kagome go home? It's pretty obvious by your decision that you don't like Kagome as much."

            "It's a matter of choice, not love," Inuyasha said in irritation. "I chose to go with Kikyo. This says nothing about my feelings for Kagome."

            "Then that means you're going to Kikyo against your will?" Eri asked hopefully.

            "I didn't say that."

            "That means you love Kagome," Eri said, a little unsure of herself now.

            "I didn't say that, either."

            "Then what did you say?" Eri demanded in frustration.

            "Nothing important," he replied. "Words are just words, anyway. They don't mean a thing." He seemed to be thinking about something, but Eri wasn't ready to let him go that easily.

            "Words do mean a lot, especially in this time period," Eri said, bordering on anger. "Whatever you say, Kagome will take your word for it. You say you're going off with Kikyo, then she believes you're going off with her."

            "_That_ I will definitely do," he said. "Nothing counts except the action."

            "Action isn't the only thing that counts!" Eri said, trying to keep her voice low and a civil conversation in her head. "You have to use words, too. It's no good to keep doing something to express your love, but never actually say it."

            "And it's no good to keep saying you love someone, until you prove it," Inuyasha replied.

            "Ugh! You're changing the topic from the original one," Eri said, feeling that this was way harder than talking to a rock. At least the rock didn't throw everything you said back at you. "The main question is, why on earth don't you love Kagome more than Kikyo? Can't you see what a great girl she is? Can't you see how much she cares about you? And even if you can't see something as obvious as that, can't you at least see that she doesn't want you to die?"

            "You know what?" Inuyasha asked in annoyance. "Why don't you go back down, go to sleep, and leave me alone?"

            "No way," Eri said stubbornly.

            "Listen, how do you think I feel?" Inuyasha said, sitting now, instead of lying down, his golden eyes piercing through the darkness. "Kikyo died because of me. And her life isn't the only thing that she forsook on my account. And now you want me to just turn away and head off with Kagome?" he demanded angrily. "What does that say about me? That I will abandon my friends the moment I've found someone better, the moment it's more convenient? How will you view a person who's done that just to be _your_ friend? Wouldn't you suspect them to be able to betray and abandon you just the same as they had done previously?"

            "That's—That's not the same," Eri insisted. "If you really like the other person better, then it's okay."

            "Is it?" Inuyasha asked, making her feel even more uncertain than she already was. "Treachery knows no bounds nor limits. One who is capable of betraying once, is capable of betraying an infinite number of times."

            "What about you, Inuyasha?" Eri demanded. "You've done things you've regretted. Are you saying that you'll repeat those actions forever?"

            "How much do you bet I will, even if I do regret it?" Inuyasha asked her. She opened her mouth and shut it, not knowing what to say to his statement. "That's why I'm not going to do something that will cause me to go in circles, repeating the same mistakes over and over."

            "But what about happiness?" asked Eri. "Don't you want that to exist for eternity? Don't you want that to repeat?" He had no answer to give her. "Maybe you should think about your decision before you do something that you'll really regret."

            "Keh!"

            "I'm just asking you to think about your reason to go with Kikyo. It's as simple as that," Eri said, waiting for his response.

            "Okay, I've thought about it," Inuyasha said, picking her up and putting her on the ground. "Now, good night."

            "Hey!" Eri said as she realized what he had done. "Inuyasha!" He just ignored her, until she had to stamp her feet and walk back into the house defeated. In the end she still didn't get a straight answer from him. Instead of the clarity that she had sought, she had only received a muddled mess.

            She returned to the room she shared with Kagome and wondered how the girl could ever put up with a pig-headed person like Inuyasha. She was starting to see her friend's love as a hopeless case.

            "Eri, you sure you don't want to stay longer?" Kagome asked, her head feeling heavy.

            "Yeah," Eri said rather grumpily. "There's nothing else I can do here. Besides, my uncle is coming today, and I'm supposed to be home to greet him."

            "Your uncle?" Kagome questioned, trying to get up. Once she did, she felt a little dizzy, and her head started pounding.

            "Do you still remember him?" Eri asked, trying to see if she had forgotten anything before leaving. Last time she had forgotten her keys, so she checked her pockets again to make sure she had them.

            "A little," Kagome said, putting her head in her hands in an effort to stop the pounding. "I just remember that he was eccentric."

            "That's the understatement of the century," Eri said, finally ready to go. "Hey, Kagome, you okay?" she asked as she saw her friend. "You don't look so well."

            "Would it help to say that I'm fine?" Kagome asked. Eri shoved her playfully.

            "I think that you've got a fever," Eri said, feeling her temperature. "No wonder you went to bed so early yesterday. Don't you know that if you're sick, you have to eat medicine?" Eri admonished. "I'll go tell your mom. Just stay here." She walked out of the room and shut the door quietly. Kagome liked back down in her bed, closing her eyes for a couple minutes, but what seemed like seconds later, her mother was there.  
            "The fever's pretty high," her mother said, looking worried. "Does your throat hurt?" Kagome nodded a little, her throat feeling tight and dry. "Here drink this. It's chrysanthemum tea." Kagome sat up and held the cup in her hands, taking small sips.

            "Rest for a while," her mother said, getting up and heading towards the door. "I'm going to the market to get some medicine for you. I'll be back in a moment. If you need anything, Jii-chan, Souta, and Inuyasha are all here to help you," she said, smiling encouragingly at her daughter. "I'm sure that Inuyasha would come without your asking," she added before closing the door softly. Kagome decided to take a small nap. Hopefully, when she woke up, she wouldn't be sick anymore.

            Inuyasha sat on the tree outside of Kagome's room. He didn't want to go in and disturb her rest, but felt kind of bad to be sitting around and doing nothing. Souta and Kagome's grandfather had gone to the shrine to pray for Kagome, which Inuyasha didn't think was going to help one bit, but he didn't say anything. He had faith in Kagome's world's medicine and was sure that Kagome would be just fine. Or at least, that was what he hoped.

            His ears perked up as he heard someone walking up the steps of the shrine. He sniffed the air carefully, and having identified the person as Kagome's mother, he relaxed again.

            She walked up the steps, holding the tiny bottle of medicine in one bag. Her children rarely got ill, and it was so rare that whenever she bought cold medicine, it would always expire before the bottle was ever finished. She knew the steps up the shrine by heart, but she still walked slowly. There was a feeling… 

            "Higurashi-san!" She turned and saw the boy named Hojo coming towards her. "Is Kagome better today?"

            "I'm sorry, Hojo-san," Mrs. Higurashi said, hoping her formality would stop him from visiting. She didn't particularly like this boy. Not that anything was wrong with him, it was just that he seemed a little too idiotic sometimes. He wasn't someone that she favored her daughter to get together with. At least with Inuyasha, she could feel an intellect there that he probably kept hidden from everyone else, but with Hojo, all she could feel was emptiness.

            Not to be mean, but to her, he was really just a blockhead; a blockhead that her father-in-law kept on taking advantage of. She wished that he would just get a clue and go away, but she decided not to interfere in Kagome's business.

            "Oh," Hojo said, a little upset. "Well, when she gets better, call me, okay?" he asked.

            "I will," Mrs. Higurashi said. _Too bad I don't have your phone number, _she thought to herself, keeping the smile on her face as Hojo walked off. She continued ascending the steps and saw the familiar red of Inuyasha's garb in the tree by Kagome's window, and was glad that her daughter had someone to watch over her.

            Suddenly she felt something grab at her ankle and pull her down. Too surprised to gasp or scream, she saw herself falling to the bottom of the steps. She could see that she was heading towards the last step, and if she didn't do something quickly, she knew that she was going to split her head open on the corner of that step.

            At the last moment, she felt someone grab her by her waist and lift her from the steps to the shrine. She was placed on the doorstep to her house, and as she tried to calm her heart down, she saw that the person who had saved her was Inuyasha. He looked more than concerned with her, so she did her best to smile and slow her beating heart.

            "Looks like I slipped," she said, keeping the truth to herself. "Thank you, Inuyasha. I think I might have suffered some sort of injury if you hadn't been there." He didn't look convinced with her explanation, and she found him to glance back at the steps a few times. "Well, I have to give Kagome this medicine, so—"

            "You're hiding something," Inuyasha interrupted her suddenly.

            "What do I have to hide?" she asked, looking clueless.

            "Don't take me for an idiot!" he said, trying half-heartedly to sound grumpy, but coming off as more worried than ever. "Your ankle… There's still a little bit of youki surrounding it."

            "Youki?" she asked. She touched the ankle where whatever it was had grabbed her, but felt nothing. She had sensed youki surrounding it earlier, but right now, she felt nothing there.

            "I didn't tell you which ankle it was," Inuyasha said. She realized her mistake, and stood up, looking at him face to face, and knowing that her secret was out. She should have known that Inuyasha wasn't as stupid as Hojo.

            "Step inside," she said, heading into the house. "I'll first give Kagome her medicine. Wait in the kitchen and I'll explain things later." She walked up the steps, her heart pumping as hard as it was a minute before. Someone had found out. After all these years of keeping this information from her children, someone was going to force her to reveal it.

            "Kagome?" she asked softly. She saw her daughter sleeping, her cheeks rosy with fever. "Kagome, wake up," she said, rousing her gently. Maybe she could get Inuyasha to keep this a secret from Souta and Kagome. She was sure that she could trust that young man. And it would be better than telling her children the truth.

            "Mama?" Kagome asked groggily.

            "Here's your medicine," her mother said, pouring the liquid into the small cup and handing it to her. "I'll go get you some water to wash the taste out." She stood up and left the room, and nearly bumped into Souta, who was standing near the doorway with a glass of water in his hands.

            "Souta?" she asked, surprised that Souta had been considerate enough to give Kagome some water.

            "Um… Um… Inuyasha told me to give this to you," he said, handing the glass to his mother, and then running off. She smiled a little. He always seemed to be full of energy. She reentered the room and gave Kagome the water, watching her daughter drink it thirstily.

            "The medicine always tastes terrible," Kagome said, handing the glass back to her mother. "And they always advertise it to be better tasting."

            "That's only for children's medicine," her mother said, smiling warmly at her. "They don't advertise that for adults."

            "They should," Kagome said as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Mrs. Higurashi tucked her daughter in, and kissed her gently on the forehead before heading downstairs. As she had told him, Inuyasha was waiting impatiently in the kitchen.

            It had been pretty boring in there, with Souta outside doing who knows what with his grandfather, and Kagome sick. He was glad when Mrs. Higurashi entered the kitchen. At least now he had someone to talk to. _I must be getting spoiled by Kagome, _he thought, remembering times when he didn't mind that he was alone, and had in fact preferred it that way.

            "How's Kagome?" he asked, his first question surprising her. She smiled at his concern and walked to the cupboard, taking a teapot out.

            "She's fine," she said, boiling some water and measuring the amount of tealeaves that would be adequate. "She's sleeping right now. A slight fever, but nothing that she can't recover from." Inuyasha let out a grunt as a response. A few minutes passed with silence between them, until she finally said, "Are you going to ask me anything?"

            "Only if you want me to," he said, acting as if he didn't particularly care. _It's really none of my business, _he thought.

            "Only if I want to…huh," Mrs. Higurashi said quietly, the kettle long forgotten. How many times had she wanted to tell her children the truth, the truth about their family, the truth about their father's death…? But each time she had lost her nerve. _Papa died in a car accident,_ she would always say. _In a car accident. In a car accident…  _Never did she imagine someone to come up to _her_ and ask _her_ if she was going to tell the truth. Always it was her choice of time, of place, of occasion. But now, what was she to do? She knew that if she lied, Inuyasha would let her slide with it, but was that what she really wanted?

            "Don't tell them," she whispered, her voice firm with force. She didn't know why she was telling him. She didn't know why she was telling Inuyasha this secret that she had never even revealed to her children. But something told her it was right. And it felt right to tell him. _Hikaru… Even now, do you still watch over us, guiding us? _she wondered, feeling as if her husband was giving her the strength and permission to speak the truth…for once.

            "Keh! It's not like I care so much about what you have to say that I'll run around spewing my guts out," Inuyasha scoffed, trying to use his rude manners to abate the tension that was starting to build.

            The kettle started to boil, and Mrs. Higurashi quickly took the kettle off the stove, pouring the hot water into the teapot, and placing the tealeaves inside. Inuyasha watched in silence as Mrs. Higurashi poured two cups of tea, one for her and one for him.

            "I can sense some things," she started. "The Higurashi family, of course, has always been able to, so I suppose with her father's gift and mine, Kagome has a power greater than either of us."

            Inuyasha looked at the green tea, absorbing the information. She looked to see if he was still paying attention, and judging by his expression, she guessed that he was.

            "The well… Each generation of Higurashi have always been able to pass through it when they come of age," she said, sipping her tea slowly. "I've heard rare instances where other people have been able to pass through, but there aren't that many. It has something to do with lineage, but I don't know what the other family is. I suppose, Inuyasha, that you must have the blood of that other family flowing within you," she said, smiling at him. He just snorted.

            "Kagome's Oyaji went through, didn't he?" Inuyasha asked, guessing the fate of Kagome's father.

            "He never came back," Mrs. Higurashi said, looking into her cup, a look of sorrowful reluctance of acceptance on her face. "That's why I don't want any of them to know. Initially, I thought to keep Kagome and Souta away from that place, but as you can see, I failed. The only thing I can do now is keep Souta away from it."

            Inuyasha looked at the woman, and knew that it must have taken a lot out of her to allow her only daughter to travel to a world filled with such dangers, and where one of her family had already died. She looked at him, shaking her head and trying her best to smile, but for once, she couldn't quite pull it off.

            "Why did he go?" Inuyasha asked tentatively, not quite sure if the question was appropriate.

            "Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi said, turning back to the tea. "This family is cursed."

            He stared at her. What? Cursed?

            "Huh?" he said, an expression of utter confusion on his face.

            "Hikaru went back in time to try and stop it," she said, her knuckles white as she gripped the cup tightly. "For the sake of his children, their children, his descendents, he went through the well, like so many before him."

_            Hikaru? _Inuyasha wondered. That name. He had heard a million people called that before, for it wasn't that uncommon a name, but he seemed to remember a particular Hikaru from long ago…

            "The Higurashi Family, meaning the Dusk Family, has been fated to cease their existence soon," she said, massaging her temples. "It can be in Kagome's generation, or her children's, or her grandchildren's… But it is almost time."

            "How do you know?" asked Inuyasha defiantly. No way was anyone dying on him anytime soon.

            "There is a scroll passed down in this family," she answered. "So far, none of the prophecies have occurred yet, but something tells me that soon, very soon, we're going to start seeing the devastating effects of this thing called 'Fate.'"

            "I don't believe in fate," Inuyasha scoffed. "I lead my own life."

            "That's a good philosophy to hold," Mrs. Higurashi said, "And I wish I could believe as you do. But so many things have happened within this family that I'm beginning to think Fate might truly exist. I never believed it when Hikaru was alive. I told him he was a fool to go through that mysterious well for a purpose that even he did not know. But… Someone in that far past had also the same prophecy of what was to come written on one of their scrolls. And they were trying to prevent it from happening one thousand years ago."

_            A thousand years ago? _Inuyasha wondered how long from the Sengoku Jidai did Hikaru go to.

            "But what worries me is not the past, for it is long and gone," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Before Hikaru left, he set up a barrier around this shrine so that his family could be protected. But recently, the barrier has begun to weaken, as you can tell with what happened earlier." She looked out of the window, the trees softly blowing in the breeze, everything peaceful and serene. "Jii-chan used to have the power to set up the barrier, but he has become old. He can't even go through the well anymore."

            "He's gone to the other side, too?" asked Inuyasha, not imagining the old man to have even exited the shrine before.

            "But he, like others before him, has failed to find out how to stop the curse," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I tell you this now, because in the other world, if Kagome should come to danger, I… I don't want her to end up like Hikaru."

            "She won't," Inuyasha promised her. _I won't let her, _he promised himself.

            "I better clean this up," she said, taking the empty teacups and teapot and heading towards the sink. She needed some time alone, to think awhile. "Would you mind very much if you check on Kagome?" 

            "Hmm," he said, getting up and heading towards Kagome's room. _Kagome's family is under a curse, _he thought, trying not to grind his teeth in anger, wondering who had placed the spell on the Higurashi. _And she and everyone else who lives here might die. Damn it! What am I supposed to do?_ He opened the door to Kagome's room and saw that she was turning and tossing in her bed, seeming to be in nightmare.

            "Oi, Kagome," he called, trying to wake her up. It was better for her to wake up than stay in a nightmare, so he started to shake her. "Oi!" When she didn't respond, he started to get worried. _I'll go get her mom, _he thought, running down the stairs. He should have known that no one in the family was able to help.__

_            "Inuyasha?" she called, jumping over the log that was in her way. "Miroku-sama? Sango-chan? Shippou-chan?" she called, hoping that someone would respond to her. "Kirara?"_

_            "Miroku-sama!" she said, happy to have found someone at last. She stopped short once she saw him leaning against the Goshinboku, a terrible gash on his chest. The grass below him was stained so red that it looked more like the black of infinite space. "Miroku-sama!" she screamed, rushing to his side, almost slipping on the slick grass._

_            "Kagome-sama…" he said, barely able to raise his head._

_            "Kagome-chan!" Sango cried in relief. "I'm so glad you're finally here!"_

_            "Sango-chan, what's happened?" asked Kagome, looking at her friend, who was bleeding slightly from a cut on the side of her face. But she noticed that the grass beneath Sango was a shade darker than the girl's shadow._

_            "You have to kill him," Sango said, an expression of great sorrow on her face, but her tone unrelenting. "He did this."_

_            "Where's Shippou-chan?" asked Kagome, fear crawling up on her with every minute. Sango looked away._

_            "Kirara is burying him right now," Miroku said with difficulty. "He… It was because of him that I'm still alive, but just barely…" Kagome could hear his breathing start to become labored and she froze, not knowing what to do._

_            "Inuyasha… Where's Inuyasha?" she asked._

_            "Consider him…dead," Sango said, looking like she had no energy left to fight._

_            "Kagome-sama," Miroku said, trying to keep as much blood in his as possible for him to finish telling her… "He won't mind. Just kill him. I failed to do it. You must complete his wish now."_

_            "What? What are you talking about?" asked Kagome, panic starting to overwhelm her. "Who's 'he?' What do you mean he won't mind? Where's Inuyasha? Is he at the village still?" she asked, turning from one face to another, desperately seeking for an answer._

_            "There is no village left," Sango said, sitting down next to Miroku. It was then that Kagome noticed Sango's right arm to be hanging at a strange angle. Sango noticed her glance and nodded. "It's broken. No more Hiraikotsu for me," she said, trying to laugh, sounding too tired…too tired._

_            "That can't be true. This can't be true!" Kagome screamed. _I cant' believe this. I just can't!__

_            Then don't believe, a voice said, yet did not say._

_            "What?" asked Kagome, looking around to see who had spoken._

_            Do you love him? a cold, familiar voice said. She turned… _Kikyo.__

_            Then you must do this, her apparition voiced._

_            "What are you talking about?" Kagome said, searching around her, hoping for an escape from this world of nightmares._

_            "Kagome-chan… Don't try and search," Sango said. "There is no other choice. If you love him… Kill him."_

_            Kill him._

_            "NO!" she screamed. "I won't! I won't! I won't! I won't!" she yelled. _I won't become another Kikyo. I won't kill him. Not now. Not ever.__

_            Kill him. **Kill him.** _

What is this voice? _she wondered. _Who are you to command me what to do?__

_            Then you don't love him enough, Kikyo "said," her ghost slowly fading away. You don't love him enough to do the right thing for him._

_            "You don't love him enough to be able to let him go," Sango said, not moving as Miroku slowly fell from his position, landing in his own blood, his body past repair. Sango closed her eyes, and looked to the sky, trying to keep her tears in._

_            If you can't let go, you'll only put them through pain, Miroku said, his ethereal voice floating through the thick mist that quickly surrounded them. There comes a point where you must concede. You must go against your instinct. You must do the right thing._

_            ~What you think is right may not always be the right choice.~_

_            "Eri?"_

_            "Run!" a voice shouted out to her faintly._

_            She obeyed the voice, running through the forest, tripping over roots, but never stopping, never daring to look behind her to see who hunted her. _That voice… Why? _It was too familiar, but why did it sound so far away, so frail…so forlorn?_

_            Kill him!_

_            "No!" she yelled, not caring if it hurt her desperately gasping lungs to do so, not caring if she should die for him. _I'll never obey that voice… Never.__

_            But another spoke… A gentler, kinder voice that did not contain the malice of the one before, only a quiet determination._

_            "Please slay him," a voice like music whispered in her ear, accompanied by the scent of delicate lilies. She stopped in her mad flight, turning to see whom it was who spoke to her. But only the weeping of the forest surrounding her could be heard; no trace of the speaker apparent. She looked at the trees around her and realized that she had returned from whence she had come. The God Tree stood magnificent and tall in front of her, but the nightmare of this reality still lingered at its roots, the bodies of the dead and dying not yet vanished._

_            She heard someone approaching her, and she took a step back, afraid to see who it was. She heard Sango let out the last of her breath, and knew that she was all alone._

_            There was someone there among the wailing woods, barely casting a shadow in the mist of illusion. She strained her eyes to see through the fog, but couldn't. It almost looked like Inuyasha, but there was something different. She tried to see his features as he came closer, but it was like she was looking through a thick and dirty glass._

_            "This is your test," the person said. "Can you pass? Or will you fail, like so many before you?"_

_            "Wh-What?" Kagome asked, her voice shaking in her fear and dread._

_            "The sun is setting. Best to do it before it completely falls from this world."_

_            "Do… Do what?" She suddenly found a bow and arrow in her hands._

_            Hurry, Kagome, a child's voice said. I don't want to see him… I don't want to see his face like that._

_            "Sh—Shippou-chan?" Kagome questioned, looking for him._

_            ~I'd rather die, than lose myself.~_

_            "Inuyasha?" she asked, half sobbing. She saw the stranger before her, swinging his clawed arm around, ready to kill her._

_            "NO!" she screamed as she felt her hands controlled by her weapons, fitting the arrow in the bow, pulling back and—_

            "NO!" she screamed again, her hands finally free of the spell, and hitting the person in front of her. There was a crash and she opened her eyes, only to see the concerned eyes of her mother, grandfather and little brother. _Where's Inuyasha? _she thought in panic.

            "Damn wench! What the hell was that for?!" Inuyasha yelled at her, forgetting the manners he was supposed to have in front of the Higurashi family.

            "You'd better not copy that, Souta," Mrs. Higurashi warned her son. He pouted, but didn't say anything.

            "Where…?" Kagome looked around her and saw that she was in her room. Was everything that had just happened a dream? But it had felt… Well, it was a good thing that it was only a dream. "What happened?"

            "Oh, nothing," her mother said, smiling at her in relief. "It looks like your fever's gone."

            "Fever?" Kagome asked. _Oh yeah, I was sick… That dream must have just been a side effect then, _she tried to convince herself.

            "But those herbs that Inu-nii-chan got sure did help," Souta said.

            "We were really worried about you," her grandfather said. "You kept moving, as if you were having a nightmare."

            "I was, but it was nothing," she smiled, trying to act as normal as possible. "Just a little dream about a horrible math test," she added when she saw that most of her family wasn't convinced.

            "Well, I'll leave you to rest," her mother said, pulling her grandfather out of the room.

            "Hurry up and get better!" Souta said as he walked out. Inuyasha was about to follow him out when she stopped him.

            "Inuyasha…" she started, not quite knowing what to say. "The herbs… Thank you," she finally said, deciding to bury that nightmare behind her.

            "Keh! I just wanted you to hurry up and get normal," he said, walking out of the room and shutting the door. It didn't escape her that Inuyasha had closed the door with barely a click, obviously putting more effort than usual at being quiet. This person… No. She was definitely never going to kill this person. Never in a million years.

            She watched from the shadows of the trees as the form of a small, white rabbit boarded an elaborate carriage and set off into the night sky. Long after the jingling of the carriages' bells faded into the distance did she rise from her hiding position to survey the prison around her. The cage that she had once believed to be her home was finally free from its sentry, and she knew an opportunity to escape when she saw it. Though it be a few days before the appointed time, she did not feel any anxiety over descending to the mortal realm to visit her son a little earlier than expected.

            She walked slowly under the leaves of the moon-grown trees, searching carefully for the gate out of the soul-chilling land, for once her wish close to being obtained. She had waited four hundred years, waiting to even glimpse her son, and now she was near to seeing him in person. She felt a little childish, like a budding adolescent, but she could not contain her anticipation and joy at finally being able to walk the mortal realm again, and touch the son that she had left so long ago.

            A grand, imposing gate the color of a fire-rat's fur stood before her, glowering down at her, almost daring her to cross this forbidden door to her freedom. She took a tiny step forward, knowing that if she continued on, there was no turning back. It had been less than a millennium, and with this act, she would have broken three of Heaven's High Laws, more than any God or Goddess had ever broken in so short an amount of time.

            She remembered coming to this very gate when she was a child, the world back then seemingly full of life and beauty, the sweetness of mortal life not yet tainting her. Her father had told her that this gate was the door away from their home, now her prison, to the larger world of the Heavens, and from there, to the mortal realm, or even the realm of the dead.

            And now she stood before it again. She wasn't going to go through it to Heaven nor Hell…but to Freedom.

            _Her_ Freedom.

            _I defy you, Chichi-ue, _she thought, taking one step, the looming gate above her head. _I will not wither away before the court like you did. I will not obey the laws as you are. I will live my life, free of your Threads of Fate._ Another step, and she was through the gate. A moment, and light engulfed her, whisking her away from the land barren of true life, to a middle world—one where she would find the final door to the land of mortals.

            Miroku paced around outside of Kaede's hut, feeling helpless and utterly useless. He wanted to go find some healing herbs, but Kaede had already taken care of that. He wanted to go get some water, but Shippou had already done that. He wanted to ride the wind and sort his conflicting thoughts out, but Kirara had already taken off. Truly, there was nothing he could do.

            Kaede walked out of the hut, dumping the bucket of used water on her garden, and about to head back in when Miroku stopped her. He hated not being useful, not doing anything, and mostly, he hated not knowing what was wrong with Sango.

            "Kaede-sama, how is she?" he asked urgently, trying to sound as collected as he usually did, but failing.

            "Sango just came down with a slight cold," the old lady said, knowing the young man before her to be more than a little concerned about his female companion. "A little fever, but she'll probably be fine by tomorrow."

            "That's great," he said, mostly to himself. He was afraid that Sango had come down with something serious when she started coughing like that, but he should have known that she was too strong to let a little illness defeat her. He wondered briefly if Kagome had come down with a cold, remembering both she and Sango coughing at Mushin's temple. But did that mean that they might have gotten Mushin ill?

            "There is a spare hut near the stream," the ancient miko pointed, directing the monk to the place that he would stay. "Rest there for a night. When tomorrow comes, it will be like she never even had a cold." The old woman entered the hut again, ready to tend to the young woman if she needed to. Miroku walked towards the house that Kaede had pointed out, his worry slightly abated.

            Halfway there, he felt a tiny prick on his neck, and his hand automatically went to slap the offending area. He watched with slight disinterest as the tiny flea floated down to the ground, his annoyance with the old man's cowardice apparent.

            "Myouga-sama," he said, not looking impressed with the flea's entrance, "what are you doing back here?" This coward had fled at a time when they most needed his knowledge, and now, when things were at the doldrums, the flea had returned from his fleeing for a reason unknown to him.

            "Ah… I came back to tell Inuyasha-sama about something very important, but I cannot seem to find him anywhere," the old flea said, seemingly hurt by Miroku's tone of voice.

            "You just couldn't tell him when he was weak, under a spell, and really needed your help, could you?" Miroku asked scathingly, turning back on his path before Myouga had interrupted him. Myouga fell silent, but only for a few moments.

            "But what I have to say absolutely cannot wait, even if Inuyasha-sama is angry at me for strategically placing myself at another location," the old flea said shamelessly, bouncing after the retreating monk.

            "Ho, sou desu ka?" Miroku asked mockingly. "And what would you have to say that is important enough for you to return to this place of potential danger?" Miroku tried to reign in his anger, but found himself failing. There was just something annoying about a man that would be so readily capable of abandoning his friends that he thought disturbing. True, he was not the one who would stick around danger, but at least he did not flee at the first sign of peril.

            But against his will, he found himself lying. For the sake of his friends he would stay, even if it meant his life. _Since when have I become such a person? _Miroku wondered, remembering the unspoken promise he made to himself. _I should never get attached to anyone, so I don't have to deal with anyone's parting… Including my own. _And yet, there was a part of him that no longer cared about his promise. There was a part of him that would rather have the joy of the present time, than live a whole lifetime without it.

            He looked at the flea bouncing behind him out of the corner of his eye. How did the old man feel, running away at the sign of danger? Did he ever leave any of his friends behind to die, while he himself escaped unharmed?

            He supposed that the only reason the old flea had survived for as long as he did was because he _did _run away whenever a threat to his life was apparent. _I suppose that means I'll die an early death, _he thought darkly, reminded of the curse upon his lineage. Well, if he was going to die, he was going to die in the company of his friends at least, not running away like a certain flea he knew.

            "I have discovered in passing that there is someone who is currently searching for Kagome," the flea youkai said, jumping onto the monk's shoulder. "I thought that Inuyasha-sama might want to know such a thing. So where is he?"

            "He left with Kagome-sama shortly after you 'strategically' relocated yourself," Miroku said, his mind racing through the labyrinth of life, trying to puzzle out the cause of the pursuit of Kagome by this mysterious hunter, while his voice remained cool and calm. No reason to let Myouga know that he was more concerned than he seemed, lest the flea flee before he had a chance to pump him for information.

            "Ah, so they're both safe. That's good, that's good," the old flea muttered to himself. The winds were starting to change in these parts, and if his age spoke of his wisdom, then he had reason to believe his instinct when it told him that danger, or at least, a dramatic alteration, was soon to occur. He was loathe to be near when it occurred, but something told him that this time, no matter where he ran, he would not escape from this new conflict unharmed.

            "Who is hunting Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked once he entered the empty hut, and using the wood piled in a corner, started making a fire. _First Inuyasha, then Kagome… Could it be that this mystery person's target is Kagome-sama, not Inuyasha? Perhaps he only wants to weaken Inuyasha in order to get to Kagome? _The theory seemed plausible, but what he was missing was proof.

            "I am not quite certain who her pursuer is," Myouga answered, letting his tiny hands bask in the warm flame that Miroku created, trying to chase the cold out of his old limbs. He may have been fast at escaping, but even he could not deny that his old age was catching up to him and slowing him down.

            "Then how did you come by this information?" asked Miroku, his faith on Myouga's information waning.

            "I overheard some people gossiping about a certain creature asking them if they knew one by the name of Higurashi Kagome," the tiny youkai said, sighing and allowing himself to relax. If there should be any trouble, he was sure that the air void in the monk's hand would take care of everything.

            "A creature?" Miroku asked, wondering if the one behind the chase was Naraku. But that would not seem probable. Naraku knew full well where they were, so why would he ask people for directions?

            "Whatever it was, it did not seem to have been a youkai," the old man said, staring deep into the fire. "I believe they said he was a Tengu, but I am not quite certain."

            "Tengu?" the monk asked in surprise. "I did not know that those creatures showed themselves in this world anymore."

            "It seems that at least one has returned," Myouga said, and stopped suddenly when he heard a strange noise outside. Miroku narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the sound, but continued talking amiably to Myouga.

            "So why do you think that they have returned?" he asked while getting up quietly and heading towards the door.

            "Maybe they're searching for food," Myouga said, knowing that Miroku was trying to sneak up upon their uninvited guest. "Or perhaps they are tired of their old home."

            Miroku opened the covering to the door suddenly, and could only stare in surprise as he saw a beautiful lady standing outside. But was she _glowing_?

            "Ka—Kaguya-sama!" Myouga said, shocked to speechlessness. How was this possible? His lord's lady had died long ago of an unknown illness, and yet now, she stood before him, looking as healthy as ever, no, healthier than ever! She glowed with an inner light, and if he did not know any better, he would have guessed that perhaps Lady Kaguya was a—but that was impossible. No goddess in her right mind would ever marry a despised youkai.

            "Kaguya?" Miroku asked, unable to contain his astonishment and confusion. _Kaguya? Kaguya-hime? Is this the princess that Kagome-sama spoke of before? And Myouga called her "lady," _he wondered, looking at one face to another, and knowing the expression on both their faces to be one of recognition. _Could it be that my guess was true? That this Kaguya-hime was truly Inuyasha's mother?!_

            "Myouga," she said, not knowing how to react at the sight of an old acquaintance. She looked at the young man standing at the door, and wondered if he was her son. She noted the dark blue of a monk's garments on the boy, and knew that this was not he. Besides, her son would look older than this man by now.

            "Kaguya-sama, how is it that you…are here?" Myouga asked delicately. This was not another youkai feigning to be Inuyasha's mother, was it? But he knew, somehow, that this was the real woman, even as her unearthly glow faded away to make her seem more of a normal human.

            "I escaped from my prison," she answered shortly, not wanting to go into details. "I am here for Inuyasha. Do you know where he resides now?" Myouga had been assigned to Inuyasha centuries ago, so surely he would know where his lord was?

            "Inuyasha is with a friend," Miroku interjected when Myouga as too astounded by her appearance to answer. "Is there something else that we can help you with?" he asked, hoping to know more of this mystery woman. For what reason did she come searching for Inuyasha, and why did she say she escaped from her prison? What would this lady have been imprisoned for?

            "Can you lead me to him?" she asked, starting to worry that perhaps it would be more difficult that she initially assumed to reach her son.

            "Is there something you wish to tell him?" Miroku asked, not fully trusting this woman. Women could be incredibly conniving, as he had discovered recently.

            "I would prefer it if I could tell him in person," she said, wondering if she should place her faith upon this monk. He seemed almost trustworthy, but there was something that was unsettling about him.

            "Inuyasha-sama has gone with Kagome to her world," Myouga said, regaining his lost tongue. Kaguya wondered if Kagome was the girl that she had seen with her son earlier.

            "Is there no way to contact him?" she asked, already knowing the reply.

            "Not unless you can cross the Hone Kui no Ido," the old man replied.

            "Bone Gobbling Well?" she asked, realizing that was where she had seen her son leap into. She had not expected anyone to be able to cross through the Time Well anymore.

            "You have heard of it?" Miroku asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

            "When do they return to this world?" she asked, ignoring the monk's question and turning to Myouga instead.

            "I know not," the old servant replied. Inuyasha rarely told him anything, although that was to be expected.

            "Kagome-sama was supposed to return today," Miroku replied smoothly, knowing the woman to be attempting to ignore his interrogations, but not relenting in his quest for information. "It was agreed that she would return every three days to see our progress in dispelling a certain spell, but she has not yet arrived."

            "Why has this…Kagome not yet returned?" Kaguya asked, a little worried that danger might have befallen her son before she got to him.

            "She may have become ill, like Sango," the monk replied. She assumed Sango was another companion of his. She wondered if she would have to wait three more days for Kagome to arrive, or if the young lady would arrive tomorrow.

            "Kaguya-sama, please explain to me how is it that you are still alive," Myouga asked, finally unable to contain his curiosity. Kaguya looked at him deep in thought, trying to decided whether or not to tell him.

            "You do not need to know," she finally said, believing that it would be easier for the old youkai not to know the truth than worry him about old secrets past. "I came only to warn Inuyasha that there is someone who may be plotting to capture him. I will leave once I've made certain that this message has been delivered." There was no reason for her to intrude on her son's current life anymore than she needed to. Perhaps she was a little afraid of how Inuyasha would treat her if she should stay too long. What affection could a son show a mother that left him so long ago? She feared to stay and discover just how deeply she had wounded her son, or perhaps worst, just how unaffected he was by her presence.

            "Someone is trying to capture Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, starting to piece the puzzle together. The unknown powder, the mysterious spell, and now this obvious goddess before him… Did someone in Heaven want Inuyasha for something?

            "When he arrives, I will explain things to him," Kaguya said, valuing her privacy and not really trusting this inquisitive monk.

            "Explain this," Miroku said, his patience finally worn with the stresses of recent events, and showing the lady the kerchief with the glowing powder in it. She gasped as she recognized the scent and composition of the spell.

            "I," she started, but did not know how to finish. At this point, it was too late to try to keep her heritage a secret, and with great reluctance, she started to identify the powder. "It is a spell used to enhance a God's powers…"

            She barely had the energy to flinch as she saw the fist coming at her again. A moment later, she was the floor, gasping with pain, and just wishing that these men would leave her to die. Her pale face was already bruised with their beatings, and she didn't think that she could take any more. Even with her powers, she was having a hard time healing all the injuries that these men had dealt her.

            "So tell me, Usagi, how dare you fail in such a simple mission as guarding the powerless Kaguya-hime?" the man asked, pulling her up by her hair. She was too tired to even feel the pain shooting through her scalp. She tried to speak, but her mouth was too bloody and swollen for her to get a word out. He punched her in the face again.

            "We assign you with a straightforward task, and yet you fail us in this," he said, looking at her with contempt. "Perhaps we should just let your brother die, since you obviously don't care enough to do well in such an easy assignment."

            She shook her head weakly, feeling overwhelming dizziness flood into her mind, clouding her eyes so that she could barely see. Before her mouth had completely healed, she spoke.

            "Don't," she begged, the single word burning her throat like a phoenix's terrible flame.

            "The deal was for you to guard her, keep her from escaping and we would return your brother to his original form," the man said icily, looking at her pitiful figure without much expression. She felt someone kick her in the ribs, and by the sharp pain that rushed through her, she knew another of her ribs had broken.

            "Why should we keep our deal, when you didn't?" another said mercilessly.

            "Your brother will die by your hands," the man from before said. She wanted to scream for someone to help her, but she knew that no one in Heaven would come to her aid. Everyone was too busy minding their own problems, and no one would spare their time to help a lowly rabbit. There was once one who could have helped her, but she had already escaped from this realm, and was the person causing her to be punished in the first place.

            "Akito, please be more civil to your colleague," another man said in a deeper voice. She cringed with what energy she had left. Akito could beat her for all he was worth, but this man could do worse.

            "Yes, sir. Forgive me, sir," Akito said, not sounding penitent at all.

            "Usagi, dear, are you all right?" the man asked, helping her stand up. She nearly screamed in pain as she felt her broken body jolt as the man pulled her up, but she did her best to hold it in. She did not want to give Akito the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

            "You really need to be more careful," he said, almost cruel in his false kindness. "Do not keep on injuring yourself for the sake of our cause."

            "I will keep that in mind, sir," she said through gritted teeth, the pain in her limbs unbearable. He let her go and she collapsed on the ground, too much in agony to even weep.

            "You're a good child, Usagi," the man said, starting to walk away. "You will not fail me again."

            "I won't, sir," she said, barely able to get those hated words out of her mouth. Her tormentors left with the man, and when they were well out of site, she fell to the ground, her energy and mind spent. How she hated…and yet feared them.

            Akito walked next to his master, hoping to keep the silence between them a bit longer. He had punished Usagi for her failure, but he hoped that his master would be more forgiving than he.

            "It is to my knowledge that the woman you took from Hell failed to destroy the monk and his friends," his master started.

            "Yes, but I have another plan," he said quickly, hoping not too sound too much in fear of his lord. His master may have seemed calm most of the time, but he knew from experience that a sharp and unforgiving mind worked behind his kind mask, and he loathed having the man's true face turn on him.

            "You have served me long and well, Akito," he started, "but I am not such a fool to let hindrances to my plan go unnoticed. Get rid of them, else your punishment shall be worst than the one you dealt to that pathetic woman back there."

            "Understood," Akito answered, bowing deeply, glad to have escaped the sentence that might have been placed upon him. He dared not look up until his master was far away, and it was only then that he ventured to sigh in relief. He knew that he had to get his plan working quickly, otherwise the monk's head wouldn't be the only one that his master wanted.

            Kagome watched Inuyasha's every move, noting every intake of breath, and every quiver of his hand. Just a little to the right, a little to the right…

            "Hah!" he said triumphantly, getting the long, wooden block out. "Your turn, Kagome," he said, grinning boyishly.

            "I'll show you how a pro plays Jenga," she said, looking around carefully for a block that wouldn't fall when she pulled it out. There was one that looked particularly easy to pull out, but she was no fool. That block was slightly larger than the others, and she knew that if she pulled it out, the entire building would collapse. She chose a block on the side. A bit risky, but if she made it, it would make Inuyasha's turn that much harder.

            "What did I tell you?" she gloated, able to get the block out and stack it on the top of the tower. "Now it's your turn, and you're going to lose just like before."

            "No I won't," Inuyasha said stubbornly, looking for a safe block to pull out.

            "Nee-chan!" Souta shouted, opening the door to the kitchen with a slam. The building fell over in a hail of wood and angles.

            "Souta!" Kagome shouted, angry at her brother for interrupting the game. "That's the fifth time you've barged in here! Are you teaming up with Inuyasha so that he can try to win a game against me?"

            "I was just going to tell you that Mama wants you to come outside," Souta said, a little intimidated by his sister's bad temper.

            "Fine," Kagome said, storming out. _Every time! Whenever I'm close to beating him, Souta just conveniently pops into the room and damages the entire game! _Kagome thought, marching up to her mother.

            "Kagome, please help Jii-chan with his spells," her mother said, walking towards the house with groceries. "I think he believes your powers can help him make some successful Ofuda."

            "Hai," Kagome said, knowing that the real reason she was called out was to get her grandfather out of one of his weird moods again. _Jii-chan is always trying to impress us with his lame spells, _she thought, opening the shrine and seeing her grandfather trying to make a spell work.

            "Oh! Kagome!" her grandfather said happily. "Let's step outside, shall we? I think that with you here, these spells will definitely work!"

            "Jii-chan…" Kagome started as her grandfather began to push her out.

            "I assure you that this time, these spells will definitely work," her grandfather said cheerfully. "Then we can try and set up a barrier around this shrine."

            "Why would we need a barrier around the shrine?" asked Kagome, wondering if her grandfather was about to go on one of his long stories again.

            "Why, a barrier has always protected this shrine," her grandfather said, but Kagome was already beginning to tune him out. She saw Inuyasha walking towards her as her grandfather said, "It started five hundred years ago…"

            He felt the air around him carefully, ignoring the sounds of the cars and buses on the roads, concentrating only on the faint trail of a youkai's youki. He pinpointed the location in a moment, and frowned when he saw that it was in the direction of a shrine. Could it be that the friend his niece had visited the other day was a youkai?

            He crossed the intersection slowly, trying to collect his thoughts and ready his spells. When his niece had returned with that faint scent of youki, he knew that she had somehow come in contact with a youkai. He had thought that in this day and age, all youkai would be in hiding, but there was obviously one who was either too weak, or not smart enough to hide its true appearance.

            Well then, he would slay it.

            He climbed the steps to the shrine slowly, feeling the presence of a youkai near him. The youkai must have corrupted the people of this shrine and bound them to it. Otherwise, why would a youkai be at a shrine?

            He readied his paper spells and strings. Time to create a cage where the youkai would be unable to escape. He threw some powder into the air to hide his scent, just in case the youkai could smell him, and began to construct his trap.

            In a moment, he jumped into full view of two people, obviously the residents of the shrine, and one youkai. He threw his spells at the youkai, who quickly jumped out of the way. Throwing his now invisible spell strings around, he calculated where he could lead the youkai to in order to slay him.

            "Inuyasha! Watch out!" the old man before him shouted at the youkai, pointing to what should have been an invisible string. The youkai quickly landed, away from the restricting power of the threads.

            "Jii-chan, what—?" the girl asked, looking at first her grandfather, then at him in confusion.

            "Youkai, you dare to trespass on a holy shrine," he yelled at the strangely dressed demon. "Prepare to suffer the consequences!"

            "What the fuck are you talking about?" the youkai shouted at him vulgarly. He threw another round of spells at him, but the youkai quickly dodged away.

            "Jii-chan, what's going on?" a woman asked as she ran out from a nearby house.

            "Stay back!" he shouted at the woman, not wanting her to get involved in his extermination. "This youkai has you under its spell!"

            "Stop it!" the girl shouted at him, but he ignored her. These people were more under the youkai's influence than he had initially expected. That only meant he had to be more careful when slaying this youkai.

            "Die!" he shouted, throwing the spells at the dog-eared demon. The youkai evaded, but in doing so, touched his carefully placed net of threads. A jolt of electricity shocked the demon, allowing him to move in for the kill.

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted in fear, not knowing what to do. She had tried to run to Inuyasha, but he was moving too fast for her to catch up, and this stupid man kept on blocking her way.

            "There is a cage of threads surrounding you!" her grandfather shouted at Inuyasha. She could only stare at him in confusion, wondering how her grandfather could see the strings that had suddenly appeared around the shrine when it was so obvious that Inuyasha could not.

            "Nee-chan, what's happening?" Souta asked fearfully, looking left to right, and seeming not to see the threads that were right in front of his face. But if Souta and Inuyasha were unable to see it, then how could…?

            "What the hell's wrong with you?" Inuyasha shouted at the intruder, wondering what his best option was. He couldn't kill the guy, that was for sure.

            "Fire!" the man shouted, releasing a spell of a phantom fire at Inuyasha. Inuyasha barely ducked out of the way, his hair almost singed by the spell. This man was more than a little dangerous: he was deadly. Inuyasha quickly moved back a few yards, trying to see if there was some way to escape. But judging by the sound of the wind moving through the unseen strings, he knew that he was trapped.

            He growled angrily, hating that feeling of having no place to turn to. The stranger pulled one of the threads above his head, and Inuyasha knew that whatever the man had done, it was not good.

            "He's made the net tighter!" Mrs. Higurashi shouted in alarm.

            "Himiko, get a pair of scissors or something!" Kagome's grandfather shouted. Mrs. Higurashi nodded and ran back into the house, much to the annoyance of the exterminator.

            "You must be a powerful one to have controlled these people so fully," he said, his eyes cold and merciless.

            "Inuyasha! Knock him out or something!" Kagome shouted, looking around her desperately for something to stop the man with. Between Inuyasha's life and this stranger's, she'd choose Inuyasha's any day.

            "I end your power now!" A gust of wind knocked Inuyasha off his feet, and he barely had his bearing before the man attacked with a strange, wooden staff. A spell seeped out of the staff and hit Inuyasha in the chest, knocking him back.

            A pair of scissors flew through the air, glowing with unknown power as it sliced a few of the strings encaging Inuyasha. The invisible strings shined upon contact, and a moment later, the red spell strings were revealed in the bright sunlight.

            Inuyasha could see the elaborate cage clearly, and cursed himself for forgetting Tessaiga back in the other world. The man was angry at Mrs. Higurashi's interference, and started attacking with more vehemence than before.

            "M-Mizuno-san!" Mrs. Higurashi shouted in surprise as she recognized the man. "Mizuno-san, stop it!"

            He paid her no attention as he started to push Inuyasha back, while the youkai could do nothing but dodge his attacks. He remembered that there was a strange well at this shrine, and if he could not defeat this youkai, the least he could do was drive it into the dry well.

            "No! Inuyasha, stop heading that way!" Kagome shouted as she realized where the man was guiding Inuyasha. She started running towards the man, not caring about whom the man was, her dread driving any indecisions out of her. _Inuyasha can't enter the well! If he does…_

            Hearing the girl's warning, the youkai started to turn another direction, but he would be a poor exterminator if he let a youkai do such a thing. He tightened the noose around the youkai when he pulled the strings closer to him, leaving the youkai no room to escape, except for the well.

            "Sankon Tetsusou!" the youkai shouted, trying to claw at the visible strings. But electricity shot out of them, and the youkai was forced to pull his hand back. The demon growled angrily at him, but he was satisfied. The youkai was getting desperate, and desperate people often made mistakes.

            He charged at the youkai, his staff pointing forward, emanating a circle of power so that the demon had nowhere to run. Inuyasha leapt back as orbs of light was shot at him. The sudden muting of outside sounds alerted him that he had indeed entered the well house, but still, he could find no way to escape without potentially hurting the man that had chased him there.

            "No where to flee, youkai," the man said, raising the staff above his head. Inuyasha tried to shove the man out of his way, but he was wearing something that burned his hands.

            "Nice try, youkai," he smiled, "but I am far more prepared than you." With the power of a Shinto priest, he knocked Inuyasha into the well, just as Kagome entered in the well house.

            "No!" she shouted, shoving the man aside with what power she had. She jumped into the well, hoping to somehow save Inuyasha before it was too late. The man tried to stop her, but she evaded his grasp, disappearing in the mysterious light of the hidden well.

            Fuujin stirred the winds around him while Raijin commanded lightning and thunder to accompany him, weaving a storm around the province of Musashi. They had stayed there long, and without cover, they would soon be discovered by some unwanted gods.

            Dark clouds rolled over the clear skies, obscuring the morning sun from the villagers, and casting its shadows upon the fields. The forest started to sway with the coming storm, its unease seeping into the bones of those near it. This was the day of the beginning of a new fate.

            In false night, Fuujin watched the well closely, knowing that his master would lose his patience if he did not complete his mission soon. A strange feeling rippled through the air, and both he and Raijin watched as a silver-haired hanyou emerged, only to collapse on the ground, weak as the spell started to take effect. Silver became ebony as day became night.

            "I told you increasing the spell's power was a good idea," Raijin said pompously, while Fuujin ignored him. He watched as the hanyou tried to get up, only to fall back down as the spell quickly drained him of his energy. He felt another ripple come from the well, and knew that he had to hurry. The girl would be there soon.

            He leapt down from his hiding place along with Raijin, and grabbed the hanyou up by the collar. He was almost surprised with how young the hanyou looked.

            "W-Who are you?" the hanyou asked, forcing the words out against the spell. Fuujin had to admit he was amazed that the boy was even conscious at this point, but knew better than to compliment him. For some reason, he was beginning to regret his decision of suggesting to use this boy as the tool to defeat Heaven's army. He was just a child, no matter how long the records had said he existed.

            Was he starting to doubt his cause? No, that could not be true. And yet, while did he feel so guilty? So dirty, as if he were doing something erroneous? He looked at Raijin out of the corner of his eye, tempted to ask him if he felt the same thing, but thought better of it. Raijin could never understand.

            He almost wanted to apologize as he formed the long, thin blade of wind that would pierce easily into the hanyou and kill him. But he knew he couldn't. No matter how much he wanted to, he could not say he was sorry.

            Gods do not apologize to demons.

            "Is the object ready?" he asked Raijin. He heard a confirming grunt from Raijin. He nodded. In one quick movement, he sent the blade through the boy's heart. Fast and painless… 

            _Gomen, _he mumbled in his mind, seeing the pain flicker through the boy's face briefly before the soul was taken. He shouldn't have said that. He should not regret his action.

            But he found that he did, against everything that he had ever been taught, against everything that he had ever stood for, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

            He surrounded himself with the comfort of the wind, and moved them all towards the Heavens, ready for the next phase. Even if he disliked what he had done, no one could argue that he was disloyal to Ryuten. For his lord, he would gladly do anything, even if it meant destroying his values in the process.

            He heard the scream of a girl somewhere below him. He ignored it.

            But he could not ignore the wailing of the winds around him.

**Miscellaneous Comments: **Now the real fun begins. MWA HA HA!!! (Somehow, the chapters get longer and longer… Hmm.)

Did you know that the bad guy in Inuyasha the second movie is named Kaguya-hime? When I went to the website and saw that, I got all pissed, but then, hey, Kaguya-hime isn't exactly the least known name in the world, so whatever. But still… GRRR! STEALERS!!!

Heian Era (794-1192 AD): In this era, the Japanese culture starts to diverge from the Chinese. Before this time, the Japanese would use Chinese characters in their official writing, but during this period, they start to develop their own unique language and customs.

Cultural note: In Japan, elementary school lasts from first to sixth grade. Middle school lasts from seventh to ninth grade, and high school lasts from tenth to twelfth grade. They take tests to get from elementary to middle school, from middle school to high school, but only if they're going to a private school. (But private schools and public schools in Japan have a great difference in quality.) Just in case you didn't know… (I was confused the first time Kagome said that she was fifteen and in middle school… If I were Kagome, I'd just forget about the Sengoku Jidai and concentrate on my tests, like I should be doing right now. Arrrrgh! Anyway, she's probably not going to a private school if her family doesn't have much money. I guess it all depends on how popular the shrine is…)

Hikaru: "light"

Himiko: Obviously this is what I named Kagome's mother (since I don't think she has a name). Himiko is also a famous empress of Japan. She existed so long ago, and she kept most of her life a secret that not much is known about her. It is said that only her brother was allowed to see her. However, accounts do agree that she was an excellent empress, and she was smart and beautiful too. Some say she was a sort of witch or prophetess, but no trace of her remains except in ancient Chinese records.

Tengu: humanoid, bird-like creatures (some look like goblins) that live in misty mountains and is said to lead people astray, as well as kidnap children. 

****


	8. Secret of the Sun and Moon

A God's Game

**Notes: **Hopefully this chapter will answer some questions. Don't expect the next chapter anytime soon. I've neglected my numerous projects to write this, so I've got some work to do.

Hikaru, I've added some things in the chapter. Thanks for reading over it though!

Chri, I would have to agree with you about both of our stories. It almost makes me think we're sharing brainwaves or something.

Saro, I'm glad you're reading so closely. I didn't catch the phantom fire part, but now that I think about it, the man's a priest, right? I'm guessing holy powers override demon ones (assuming those fire rats are youkai). It's amazing how you're paying so much attention to such detail!

**Chapter VIII: Secret of the Sun and Moon**

            The thudding of his heavy boots were muffled by the sea of clouds surrounding him, helping him hide his presence from those that would dare to find fault with him. His meeting was a secret one, and he knew that if he should be discovered here, no god in Heaven would be able to keep the Great Emperor's sentence from falling upon his head.

            He heard a dampened sigh near him, and walked silently to that direction. To an untrained eye, his grace would have been described as ghostly, seeming not to rise nor fall with each step he took, and instead glided through the field of clouds, just like he had glided through the hardships he had encountered in his life.

            "Yoko," he whispered, deepening his voice and covering her eyes with his hands. "Guess who?"

            "Hmm… I don't know," she said playfully, her voice like the nightingale's music to his weary ears. His elders had been harassing him again, and it was a wonder that he was able to escape from them to speak to her even now.

            "Are you…Akito?" she asked, her laugh tinkling like small bells when she sensed him to become tense with jealousy.

            "You're so funny, Ryuten," she said as he let his hands drop from her eyes, pouting at the name that she had mentioned a moment ago. "I'm still amazed that you ever believed my sisters' ploy of my liking Akito."

            "What?" he said annoyed, his voice returning to his normal tone. "You never told me you loved me at that time," he said, still pouting. "How was I to know that it was not true?"

            "But now, you should know better," she said, turning around and tapping his nose, pretending to admonish him. "Why are you still jealous after hearing his name? You should know that there is no one else whom I would do anything for."

            "Which reminds me," he said, smiling truly only in her presence. "I need to thank you for giving me that mirror."

            "You need not thank me for something I would have gladly done," she said, walking a little away from him, forcing him to follow after her. "Amaterasu o-mi-kami is my grandmother, after all, and asking her for one of her mirrors was no large feat."

            "But still, it was of great help to me," he said, catching up to her, and stopping in front of her. He summoned the large, golden yellow chrysanthemum that he had been carefully tending and handed it to her gently. She smiled as bright as her favorite flower, and accepted his gift with care.

            "I believe my father is going to leave tomorrow," she whispered to him, her voice carrying a more serious edge.

            "The Jade Emperor is going tomorrow?" he asked, a little surprised at the abruptness of the news. And here he thought he had at least one more month before his plan could go into action. Yoko looked around her carefully, taking care to have no one other than Ryuten listen to her words.

            "It is a state secret," she whispered, feeling guilty for betraying her father so. But for this love, she was willing to do more than anything. "Go with your plan cautiously, Ryuten. Do not fail, because it will cost both our lives."

            "You don't have to worry about a thing," he said confidently, reassuring her. "I'll take over this realm and free these gods of this suppression of emotions once and for all. And then, we can finally stop these secret meetings, and show our true feelings without fear or shame."

            "My youngest sister would be most glad for this occurrence," Yoko smiled, putting all her faith in him. "No longer will she have to wait for the magpies to form a bridge…"

            Rin stood on the top of the hill, spying the hillside for any flowers whose beauty was worthy of Sesshoumaru. Every flower was beautiful to her, but she only wanted the best for Sesshoumaru. She picked up two wildflowers amid the sea of fragrant perfumes and wondered which type did Sesshoumaru prefer: the white or the yellow?

            "Stop running around," Sesshoumaru's angry retainer said. "You're making it very difficult for this Jyaken."

            "Ne, Jyaken-sama, which ones do Sesshoumaru-sama like, the yellow flowers or the white ones?" she asked innocently, wondering if she should just get both of them.

            "You fool! Sesshoumaru-sama does not care for those paltry weeds!" he said in contempt.

            "Jyaken-sama is just grumpy because you didn't get to eat breakfast," Rin said simply, knowing that if someone skipped breakfast, they would be in a foul mood for the rest of the day. "Want to go find food?"

            "Rin," a familiar, unchanging voice said.

            "Sesshoumaru-sama!" both Rin and Jyaken called out.

            "We're leaving," he said, sensing that something had changed that day. It was not something conspicuous as a sudden change in the direction of the wind, or a flock of crows winging like a storm above him, but something much, much more subtle. He had a feeling that Inuyasha was tied to this in some way, and though he did not care much now for his younger brother, he had the obligation at least to discover what had befallen one of his father's lineage.

            "Sesshoumaru-sama! Here, for you," Rin said, standing at the tip of her toes, trying to give him the flowers. He gave her a dispassionate glance, but she could tell by the slight angle that his eyes took that he was pleased, and she couldn't help but smile.

            "Keep it, Rin," he said, this girl forever remaining a puzzle to him. "It'll look better with you," he said, walking away.

            "Hai, Sesshoumaru-sama," she said, running after him.

            "Sesshoumaru-sama, do not leave me behind!" Jyaken called after his lord, pulling the two-headed horse youkai behind him, trying to catch up. He felt a shiver up his spine and looked up, seeing a ghostly, snake-like creature floating through the skies above him.

            "Shinidamachu," he muttered under his breath, recognizing the type of youkai that floated so silently over the mountaintops. He brushed his curiosity off as nothing, thinking that it did not concern him.

            She ran towards the sound of the scream, anxiety coursing through her veins as she heard the rhythmic jingling of Miroku's staff near her. That scream… She hoped that it did not belong to the one she was suspecting, because if it did, then all their efforts of the past few days were for naught.

            She suppressed the shiver that permeated her bones, knowing that Miroku was watching her every move, believing that she wasn't well enough to be running around in this unnaturally cold weather. She ran harder, hoping to dispel the worry that Miroku had shown her the past few days. She liked the attention that he had given her, but something about him worrying about anyone was a bit unsettling. She liked the calm, and seemingly carefree Miroku better. At least with that Miroku, she knew what to expect. But with this considerate one, she was finding herself become speechless more and more in his presence.

            "Was that Kagome? That wasn't Kagome, right?" the childish voice piped. Sango gave a brief glance at the kitsune, who was running beside the tiny Kirara. She had a terrible sense of foreboding as she looked at Kirara, who was unusually tense, and seemed to become more irritated with every sniff to the air she took.

            "I hope it isn't, Shippou," Miroku said gravely. "But we will see when we get there."

            "The presence that I had felt earlier has disappeared," Kaguya said mysteriously, only worrying Sango more.

            Finally, they saw the well before them, the clearing shadowed by ominous clouds. Sango approached Kagome, who was sitting on the ground, crying. She knew then that Inuyasha had been taken.

            "Kagome!" Shippou wailed, running to the girl. "Kagome, where's Inuyasha?" Kagome just shook her head, trying to stop the tears that were flowing freely from her face. She tried to clear the lump in her throat to tell them what had happened, what she had seen, but she found that she couldn't.

            Sango noticed Kirara sniffing at a patch of scarlet among the green, and dreaded to realize what it meant. They had discovered the source of the strange powder and the one who was behind the recent events all for nothing. She felt herself collapse next to Kagome, her energy spent, and her grief eating her away. 

            _I had promised myself I would lose no more people,_ she thought bitterly. _And look now what has happened. I failed in protecting him. I failed to help him when he most depended on me! _First, when Kohaku needed her protection and guidance, and now, when Inuyasha had been afflicted with this spell. Was she to go through life, letting everyone who depended on her down?

            "Kagome-sama, please tell us what has occurred here," Miroku said, ever the calm, and cool-headed one.

            "Inuyasha… Inuyasha…" she said between sobs. It was her fault that Inuyasha had been taken. She should have tried harder to stop that priest from attacking Inuyasha, but she had done nothing except run after him like an idiot, telling him to be careful and doing really nothing else. She was so stupid! Maybe if she had tried to trip the priest up with his own strings, or maybe if she had tackled him, Inuyasha would have been able to escape, instead of suffering the fate that he did now. Why was she always so useless, always watching by the sidelines as the ones she most cared for got hurt time and time again? If only she had some power that she could control. If only she could do more than sense Shikon shards and shoot an arrow. _If only I was more like Kikyo…_

            If she had been Kikyo, would she have been able to protect Inuyasha?

            "Kagome-dono," a strangely gentle and unfamiliar voice said. "Please don't cry. All is not lost yet." Kagome looked up into the eyes of a woman she had seen before, and couldn't help gasp in shock. _Muonna! _she thought in panic, wondering if Sesshoumaru was behind Inuyasha's murder. 

            "Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I will try to guess what has occurred here," she said in a calm voice. But what was that Kagome detected? Sorrow? Bitter admonishment of herself?

            "Kaguya-hime, did you recognize the ones who were here?" Miroku asked, as Kagome only stared at the well-dressed woman, her mind numb with shock at the recent events and the name of the lady in front of her. _Kaguya-hime? _she wondered, thinking that such a lady had only existed in a child's fairytale. Why was she here? Who was she, exactly? Surely she wasn't Inuyasha's mother?

            "There were two, but I can only guess of one who was here," the lady said softly. "Fuujin of the wind must have been the one who has caused the winds in these parts to be disturbed. But of the other, I know not." She kneeled next to Kagome, trying her best to smile at the grief-stricken girl. "Kagome-dono, did someone…kill Inuyasha and take him away?" she said, stumbling as she forced herself to acknowledge her son's death. What a poor mother she was to have failed to help her son in one little task. Well, she would berate herself later. Now was not the time.

            "Something also came out of Inuyasha," Kagome said, finally managing to suppress her tears. "And then they both just went away."

            "Something came out of Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, frowning. "Hime-sama, is it possible that it was Inuyasha's soul?"

            "It is most possible," she said slowly. "He may want to utilize the soul to use only the god-side of Inuyasha."

            " 'God-side?'" Kagome asked, wondering what they were talking about. Inuyasha was half-god now? And all this time she had thought he was half-demon.

            "Let's get out of the cold and head back to Kaede-sama's place," Myouga said, voicing his thoughts for the first time. "Sango should not be out in this weather, anyway." Almost as if to mock him, the weather cleared up, casting the golden rays of the sun among the fields of green, life shining as it had never had before.

            "Let's go," Miroku said, helping Sango up while Kagome got up by herself. Shippou still clung to her like she was a lifeline, so she allowed him to stay on her shoulder. Slowly the group made its way back to the village, the silence falling upon them like a suffocating blanket.

            Kaede watched them as they each entered the hut, and judging by their appearances, she deduced what had happened.

            "Kaguya-hime?" Kagome asked tentatively. The woman nodded for her to go on. "Excuse me, but who are you exactly?"

            "I am Inuyasha's mother," she said, trying to smile. "And as you have perhaps guessed, I am a goddess." Kagome noticed Myouga stiffen near the fire, and she wondered if Myouga disliked goddesses for some reason.

            "Kagome-sama, I will try to explain to you what we had discovered since your departure," Miroku said, getting straight to business. "Kaguya-hime has given us much information regarding certain events. The first being the powder that Inuyasha had saved," he said, taking out the small, white package once again. "It is made of the seeds of Heaven's peaches. It is ground into a fine powder and can boost a god's powers."

            "Our theory is that Ryuten, the one who is plotting all of this, used it to test Inuyasha's strength concerning his hidden god blood," Sango supplemented, already planning a way to punish that god.

            "But Inuyasha's youki got stronger when he touched the powder," Kagome argued, trying to process all the information.

            "A god's power does not activate until one has died," Kaguya explained patiently. "When the powder was cast upon Inuyasha, his god powers increased and threatened to kill him in order to be used, forcing his youki to become stronger in order to keep Inuyasha alive, and overwhelm the increasing god power."

            "The more god power Inuyasha had, the stronger his youki became to overpower his god blood," Shippou said simply, trying to help.

            "Since Inuyasha's youki was so great, that meant that his god powers must be great too, which is why Ryuten selected Inuyasha for whatever he is planning," Sango said, trying to keep business in her mind so that she wouldn't have to think about other things.

            "So to use a god's powers," Kagome said hollowly, "you must die." The others fell silent at her statement, not quite sure how to respond.

            "Ryuten will keep his body alive in order to keep on using the soul," Kaguya said, breaking the silence, and hoping that she could still help her son in some way. "If the body died, the soul would have to be taken by the undertakers, and that would go against his planning," she said quickly, hoping these young ones would understand what she was getting at. She was not disappointed.

            "So all we have to do is get Inuyasha's soul and his body back and he'll be back to normal," Kagome said hopefully, glad when Kaguya nodded her head.

            "But how will we accomplish such a thing?" asked Miroku, ever the pessimist. "We would have to enter Heaven, and if it were so easy to enter Heaven, don't you think many people would have already done so?"

            "But we can find a way, right?" Shippou asked, for the first time seeing some hope in the matter. Inuyasha may have been mean to him, but if he should disappear, he would still miss him. If Inuyasha ever came back, Shippou was determined to never let him out of his sight again. He didn't want anyone else to die, especially someone that he quarreled with like a brother. _I don't care if Inuyasha pounds my head a hundred times for being annoying, as long as he's there to pound my head,_ he thought, his determination at getting Inuyasha back increasing.

            "We have a goddess right here, don't we?" Sango asked, looking at Kaguya expectantly.

            "I…cannot reenter Heaven," she said quietly, knowing that she was letting them down. "If I did, I would not get far enough to search for Inuyasha."

            "What do you mean?" Shippou asked when no one else seemed to want to say anything.

            "I've broken three of Heaven's high laws," she said. "Undoubtedly, they will want to search for me if I should return."

            "But then, what will we do?" Shippou asked, getting frustrated with the adults' silence. Didn't they care about Inuyasha? Why weren't they coming up with some genius plan to get him back? What was wrong with all of them?

            "There is no way that we can retrieve his body then," Miroku said, giving up before they had even started. What was the point in trying to resurrect the dead? Inuyasha had died, just like so many others that he had seen around him. They had all remained dead. And even those that had returned from death, did not return to being themselves. Death was just a part of life. He didn't understand why the others were so intent on fighting it. They should just accept it, as he had accepted...

            "There may still be a way," Kaguya said, daring to raise her hopes. "In two days, Ichiro, a soldier of Heaven, will arrive. I believe he will agree to helping us get Inuyasha back."

            "Why would he help us?" asked Miroku, not liking to rely on some stranger.

            "He is a friend," Kaguya replied. "And he has many contacts that will help him to locate where Ryuten is currently staying. With his aid, I believe that it will be most possible for Inuyasha to return."

            "So all we have to do is wait two days?" asked Shippou eagerly. "What will we do for two days?"

            "Why don't you take a break to get your mind off things?" Kaede said, speaking for the first time.

            "Yeah! And we can ask Inuyasha's kaa-san about how Inuyasha was like when he was little!" Shippou said mischievously.

            "I can't leave this village," Kaguya said, stopping Shippou in his plan. "The Goshinboku hides my presence with its power, so if I leave, the gods will find me."

            "Oh," Shippou said, deflated.

            "I'm going back to get my bag and some supplies," Kagome said, getting up and feeling hopeful about the future. "I'll be back in a while."

            She ran out of the hut before anyone else could refuse, and reached the well. Perhaps the bright sun shining through the trees was a good omen? She leapt into the well and emerged in her own world, reminded suddenly of the strange events that had occurred at her home before she had left. Had her mother and grandfather shown some sort of power that morning?

            "Jii-chan! Mama!" she called out, quickly entering her home. She wanted to ask them a few questions. She walked into the living room and saw that same priest from earlier, sitting across from her mother and grandfather. For a moment, she wanted to go over there and sock him, but she restrained herself, and instead looked questioningly at her family.

            "Okaeri, Kagome," her mother said, sounding tired for the first time in Kagome's memory. "You know this man. He is Mizuno-san. Eri's uncle."

            "Mizuno-san?" Kagome asked, remembering how she and Eri had been speaking of her uncle not so long ago. So it was he who had caused everything to happen? It was he who had so carelessly chased Inuyasha down the well?

            "I beg for your forgiveness in my rash behavior," he said solemnly. "I thought that you had all been bewitched by the youkai's power, and did not think twice to rid this earth of youkai scum."

            "They aren't scum," Kagome said through gritted teeth.

            "As I have so discovered from your mother," he answered. He saw that Kagome was still angry with him, but did not know how else to apologize. He should have realized that Hikaru's family was one that had no qualms about befriending youkai, but after so many years without contact, he had forgotten.  "If there is anything I can do for you to make up, please do not hesitate to say so."

            "I'll tell you what you can do," Kagome said angrily. "You can—"

            "We'll see you soon, Mizuno-san," her mother said suddenly, cutting her off. "Please watch your step down the shrine," she said, basically shoving the priest out of the house. She closed the door behind her, seeing a fuming Kagome still standing in the living room.

            "Mizuno-san always acts before he thinks," Mrs. Higurashi tried to explain to her daughter, but her daughter didn't change her reaction. She saw Souta peeking at them from the hallway, and was about to tell him to go play when Kagome spoke up.

            "I'm kind of glad that he came by today," she said, trying to keep her voice calm. "Because otherwise I would have never known that you were hiding something from me." She looked nervously at her daughter.

            "How did you see the string when Inuyasha couldn't?" Kagome demanded. "How did you make it so that the threads were no longer invisible?" When her mother didn't reply, she turned to her grandfather, who looked guiltily away.

            "Perhaps it was only invisible to youkai," Mrs. Higurashi said weakly, seating herself in a nearby chair.

            "Why was Souta unable to see it?" Kagome asked, cornering her mother. Her mother didn't answer once more.

            "Kagome, sit down," her grandfather said, pulling her into a seat. "Souta, you might as well come in and listen to this. I believe the time to hide this secret has passed, Himiko." She nodded numbly.

            "Mama, what's going on?" asked Souta, sitting on the floor next to his mother.

            "Souta…" she said, stroking her son's hair.

            "The Higurashi have always had the power that you have, Kagome," her grandfather started. "Every single generation has the ability to slay youkai and sense the supernatural. And, when they become of age, to cross through the dry well."

            "What?" asked Kagome, not quite believing what she was hearing. "But… But the only reason I can go through the well is because of the Shikon shards," she said, remembering how she couldn't cross the well when Inuyasha had taken the shards from her. "It has nothing to do with family lineage, right? Otherwise, how can Inuyasha go through the well?"

            "It's not the Shikon shards," her mother explained. "Circumstances must have been set up so you thought it was because of the shards."

            "But when Inuyasha took all the Shikon shards, I couldn't go through the well," Kagome protested, not buying what her mother was saying.

            "The well must have been blocked at that time," Mrs. Higurashi said simply.

            "But when I felt the presence of a Shikon shard in the well, I was able to go through," Kagome said stubbornly. She couldn't bring herself to believe that her grandfather and father had all been able to cross the well. It just didn't make any sense. And why would her mother want to keep such an innocent secret from her anyway?

            "The Shikon shard must have given you enough power to cross the well despite it being blocked," her mother replied. "Kagome, do you remember the first time Inuyasha came over?" Kagome looked at her mother in surprise, but nodded. What did Inuyasha coming over have anything to with what they were talking about?

            "Did he have any shards with him?" her grandfather asked.

            "No…" Kagome said, and wondered how Inuyasha was able to cross without having a shard with him. How was he able to go through all the time if he was never allowed to keep the shards with him, anyway? Maybe it was because she had some shards in this world, which was why the well was open for them to cross. But that didn't make sense because when he went to this world for the first time, neither of them had any Shikon shards on them. Was it possible that her mother spoke the truth? But why would she not trust Kagome enough to tell her the truth?

            "Well? Now do you believe us?" her mother asked.

            "Does that mean I can go visit Inu-nii-chan, too?" Souta asked eagerly.

            "I doubt it. The Higurashi that have gone through the well have always gone to different times," his grandfather said. "I went to the Meiji Era. My father went to an early period of the Sengoku Jidai. My grandmother went to the Nara Period. And Hikaru, your father, went to the Heian Era."

            "Papa went through the well, too?" Kagome asked. "Why didn't you tell us this?"

            "I didn't want you to die in the well like Hikaru did," her mother said, trying not to portray her emotions.

            "Papa died in the well?" Souta asked. "I thought he died in a car accident."

            "We made that up so that you wouldn't become curious and try to go through the well," his grandfather said. "Mama and I agreed to keep the well a secret from you so that you wouldn't die there like your father, but in the end, Kagome still went through."

            "But after I went through the well, why did you still not tell me?" Kagome asked, feeling as if the trust between them was shattered.

            "I was afraid that Souta would get the idea to go through, too," her mother said. "I couldn't stop you from crossing the well to do what you felt was your responsibility. But I could keep Souta from falling prey to the well."

            "What's so bad about the well?" Souta asked. "And how come Jii-chan didn't cross the well to save Papa?"

            "I'm too old, Souta," his grandfather said. "My powers have grown incredibly weak. Even if I could go through the well, there is no way that I would have the power to save my son."

            "But why did Papa go to the Heian Period in the first place?" Kagome asked. "He had no reason to leave this world." There was a brief silence before her mother spoke.

            "Higurashi are cursed," she said, "Your father and those before him crossed the well in order to find a way to prevent the Higurashi line from being decimated. Your father almost found a way to break the curse, but he never returned. We can only guess that something on the other side of the well killed him."

            "What are we cursed with?" asked Souta.

            "I don't know," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I only know that the Higurashi have been cursed to die. Your father left only one clue before he passed away."

            "It was some sort of prophecy," the old man said, getting up and shuffling around a nearby drawer. "Here it is." He handed Kagome a small slip of paper.

            "Change so subtle so as not to be seen," Kagome read, "            The world sleeps so calm or so it may seem."

            "The light and the dark for once shall separate," her grandfather continued. "And shall return only to obliterate."

            "Waters of Heaven shall be washed with Flame," her mother shivered, "Rise high sun from false Avalon it came." Kagome looked up from the paper and looked at them in confusion. What was all this nonsense?

            "What does it mean?" Souta asked, voicing her question.

            "We don't know," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Your father solved the puzzle, but he went through the well to verify it before telling us of his suspicions."

            "And let me guess," Kagome said, feeling as if everything was crashing down at her at once. "He didn't come back because he died in a 'car accident.'"

            "Kagome…" her mother started.

            "I understand," she said suddenly, standing up. "Papa couldn't save this family. But I will. I'm going to solve this puzzle. I'm going to bring Inuyasha back."

            "What happened to Inu-nii-chan?" asked Souta.

            "Nothing. He'll be back soon," Kagome lied, and guiltily realized why her mother had kept the truth from her. Sometimes, it was better to remain ignorant.

            "Where are you going?" asked her grandfather as she started packing things into her big, yellow backpack.

            "I'm going to the Sengoku Jidai for a little while," she said, not pausing in her work. "I'll be back as soon as I figure everything out. Don't expect me to return for some time."

            "Kagome…" her mother started, one hand about to touch her daughter on the shoulder, but she stopped herself. She knew that she had to let her daughter go, but she just couldn't bear it. Kagome knew now, and she was afraid that her daughter would disappear in the other world, never to return just like her husband. Kagome would pursue an answer to their family curse, and, if the Fates did not favor her, she would not come home.

            For a moment, she hated being wedded to the Higurashi. She hated not knowing the fate of her husband, and now, Kagome. She hated feeling helpless and being unable to cross the well to find out what was happening there. She wanted to go through the well with Kagome—to go through the well and at least find the ashes of her husband, but because she was not of the Higurashi lineage, she could do nothing. The only thing that was within her power to do was to let Souta go through the well, and perhaps suffer the same destiny that his father, and possibly sister, would suffer. In that moment, she felt like hacking the well to pieces.

            "Ittekimasu," Kagome said, signaling to her family that she was going to leave. She walked out of the door, heading towards the well.

            "Chotto matte!" her mother called out suddenly. She turned around, wondering why her mother was telling her to wait. There was a pause, in which Mrs. Higurashi struggled with her words, until she finally let out the familiar, "Itterashai." _Have a safe journey._ How fitting those everyday words were for this occasion.

            Kagome smiled and headed down the well, fully expecting to return to her world. She would break the family curse, and her mother would never again have to worry about anything. One leap, and she was gone.

            He woke up suddenly, feeling disoriented and confused, not quite sure where he was at the moment. He tried using his ears and nose to identify where he was, but for some reason, they failed him today. He looked around the room, brightly lit with the pure sunlight that entered the chamber from the open windows. He quickly put a hand to his heart, remembering someone piercing him there a moment ago, but found no wound. _Where the hell am I?_

            He approached the nearby window, and had to bite back a gasp as what he saw only threw his mind into further chaos. The clouds were on the _ground_?

            "I see that you've awaken," someone said, the voice carried softly by an unfelt wind. He turned quickly and recognized the man standing there as the one that had tried to kill him. Or maybe he had really succeeded?

            "Who the fuck are you?" he asked, his natural defense against strangers kicking in.

            "I am the God of Wind, Fuujin," he said formally. "I brought you to this plane of existence in order to aid Ryuten-sama."

            "Who?" Inuyasha asked.

            "My lord," Fuujin said a little impatiently. "Follow me. He is waiting." Inuyasha had half a mind to rip the guy before him apart, but decided to play along for the time being. There was no guarantee that he could escape this place without their help, and if that were true, he wasn't about to cut off his only escape.

            He followed the god through the hallways, finally entering a fairly large room. The door shut with a resounding slam, and Inuyasha looked at the man before him expectantly. _Blue hair, greenish eyes… What is this guy, a dragon? _Inuyasha wondered.

            "Ryuten-sama, I present to you Inuyasha," Fuujin said. Ryuten gave a false smile to Inuyasha, who wanted to rip the smirk off the man's face.

            "So this is Inuyasha," Ryuten said, walking around him and observing him as if he were some piece of meat to be eaten.

            "Whaddya want?" Inuyasha said grouchily, crossing his arms. It was then that he realized his claws were missing, but he gave no clue of his discovery to his enemies.

            "I need your help in a little thing," Ryuten said, settling into a chair.

            "Do it yourself," Inuyasha said rudely.

            "How dare you speak to Ryuten-sama in such a way!" a deep voice bellowed. Inuyasha was surprised that there was someone else in the room. Why hadn't his ears picked up the man's movements? Or at least his nose should have smelled him… Inuyasha tried moving his ears, but couldn't, and he knew that he was lacking in his demonic powers. _What the hell did these guys do? _he thought, starting to get worried.

            "Step down, Raijin," Ryuten said calmly. "Inuyasha. I would watch your tongue if I were you. In this place, you will obey me."

            "Keh! In your dreams maybe," Inuyasha scoffed. What kind of idiot was this Ryuten? As if he would ever work for anyone!

            "Do you know of someone named 'Kikyo?'" Fuujin said suddenly to Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked at him suspiciously. "How about a girl named 'Kagome?'"

            "Get to the point," Inuyasha grumbled, hoping that these people hadn't taken his friends hostage.

            "The priestess Kikyo uses her powers to feed on the souls of the dead," Ryuten said, his sharp eyes never leaving Inuyasha's. "That is a high crime. And I believe that the sentence for such a crime, is to go to the last level of Hell." Inuyasha frowned, not responding.

            "Her soul will be tortured most painfully in that level," Ryuten continued on as if he were discussing the weather. "And since she and Kagome share the same soul, they will both be punished for Kikyo's crimes."

            "Why you…!" Inuyasha started.

            "I can stop the penalty," Ryuten interrupted him. "I have the power to convince those people in charge of carrying out such sentences to let her go. But of course, I will not do such a thing out of charity." Inuyasha gritted his teeth in anger. Punish Kikyo and Kagome? He would never allow something like that to happen. But what could he do? If he attacked these people, Kagome and Kikyo would still have to be punished. He glared at them, knowing that he had to swallow his pride.

            "What do you want?" he asked angrily, hating himself for bending to their wills. But if it meant saving Kikyo and Kagome's souls, he would do anything. Even without his senses, he could tell that the three men before him weren't really men, but perhaps gods. How else did they have the power to control the dead? And who else would live in the skies with the clouds beneath them?

            "I just need you to master your powers to defeat Heaven's army," Ryuten said. "As you have noticed, you lack the…gifts that were bestowed upon you when you were alive," he said, getting up to look among his collection of swords.

_            So I really was killed, _Inuyasha thought, but quickly brushed the thought aside.

            "Your mother probably did not tell you, but you are half-god," Ryuten said, selecting a sword and tossing it to Inuyasha. "We killed you in order to release that side of your power." He paused, expecting Inuyasha to start questioning him, but Inuyasha did not want to give him the pleasure of appearing to be an ignorant fool.

            "Fuujin," he commanded. "Teach him how to use Kaguya's powers," he said. "When you are ready," he said to Inuyasha. "Heaven will fall."

            "Where did you say it was?" Miroku asked the villager. Kagome tried to cool herself under the hot, summer sun, but found that the more she fanned herself, the hotter she got. She felt like she was going to die of dehydration, even though she had already drank several bottles of water, and wished that Miroku would just hurry up and get the directions.

            After staying at Kaede's hut for a day, doing nothing, a villager had returned home from trading with strange news. It seemed that a mysterious mirror had turned up, and whoever gazed into the depths of the mirror felt extremely content afterwards. Miroku and the others had agreed that it was indeed suspicious, so had set off in search of the mirror, hoping that it wasn't a youkai in disguise.

            But from one village to the next, the mirror's location kept changing. They had finally arrived at the fifth location the mirror had been moved to, only to discover that once again, the mirror was transported to another village. It seemed that those that had looked into the mirror had felt incredibly happy and generous, and wanted to share their joy with others, so had kept passing the mirror on.

            Kagome wondered when they would ever catch up to this slippery mirror.

            "Remind me why we're looking for it again," Kagome asked, feeling that a cruddy mirror wasn't worth the heat that she was feeling.

            "It might be a youkai," Sango said half-heartedly, wanting to run into a cool house soon.

            "It might have a Shikon shard in it," Shippou said. Kirara mewed pitifully in agreement.

            "Get up. It's time to head west," Miroku said, finally getting the directions to the mirror's new location. Miraculously, Miroku seemed not to be affected by the heat, and Kagome and Sango looked at him enviously, while Shippou remained baking on the ground.

            "Houshi-sama, why is it that you seem so cool today?" Sango asked suspiciously.

            "It is the art of meditation," he said solemnly, before walking off towards the west. Kagome rubbed her eyes. Was it the summer haze, or did Miroku seem a little fatter today? And was he dripping water?

            "Miroku-sama!" Kagome called, dragging herself off to chase after him. Sango picked up Kirara and Shippou, and the group slowly caught up with the monk.

            "Houshi-sama, is it just me, or did you…um…miss when you were…" Sango's cheeks flushed as she couldn't find the right words to end her sentence. "Did you make a mistake when you were…ah…having your private time?" she finally asked.

            "What?" Miroku asked, confused with Sango's vague words.

            "Did you pee on yourself?" Shippou asked, causing everyone else to be embarrassed.

            "What?! Why would I do such a thing?" Miroku demanded.

            "Because you're all wet," Shippou said, pointing to the monk's clothes. Miroku laughed sheepishly.

            "I suppose the weather is hotter than I expected," he said, reaching inside his robes, careful not to accidentally remove his clothes, lest he be called perverted, and taking a string of ice cubes out.

            "What is that?" Kagome asked, looking suspiciously at the monk.

            "Ice cubes," Miroku said, pulling another string out. And another, and another…

            "Why on earth do you have these tied around you?" Sango asked, grabbing one chain.

            "How in the world did you get these?" Kagome asked.

            "Do you remember the time you brought us ice cream?" Miroku asked. Kagome nodded, guessing what he was about to say. "Well, I managed to convince Inuyasha to steal—excuse me, borrow some from your world. But they kept on melting so I suggested to Inuyasha to go borrow some ice from your family, and the both of us buried this…err, borrowed snack into the earth and covered it with sawdust to keep it cool."

            "You and Inuyasha stole ice cream from me?!" Kagome yelled angrily.

            "Inuyasha told me your mother gave it to him willingly," Miroku said. "We were going to share it."

            "Yeah, right," Sango said, her cat mewing in agreement.

            "When did you guys make off with it?" Kagome asked, bringing her hand to her head as if she were going to have a headache.

            "I believe it was during one of your 'tests,'" Miroku said.

            "Miroku, if you brought the ice, then did you bring the ice cream?" Shippou asked, hoping to get a bite of that delicious treat.

            "Well, I did not want Kagome-sama to become upset with me for taking those from her home," Miroku smiled guiltily. "So I ate all the ice cream before taking the ice cubes to cool me off."

            "Why you—!" Kagome spluttered.

            "You're greedy!" Shippou berated him.

            "I can't believe you, Houshi-sama," Sango said, sighing.

            "What? At least you now have ice to cool you off," Miroku said.

            "You weren't going to share them with us if we didn't ask you, were you?" Shippou asked slyly.

            "Of course I was!" Miroku said unconvincingly.

            "Thank you, Miroku-sama," Kagome said, handing a string to everyone except Miroku. "We'll use the ice cubes now. We'll switch and give the ice cubes to you in an hour."

            "But…" Miroku started, but silenced himself as he saw Kagome's look. "What a great idea, Kagome-sama. I think your plan will do quite well," he said, quickly heading down the road, not wanting to face the wrath of two angry women and a child. He sighed. _Why does this always happen to me?_

            The ice cooled them, but not before they reached the next village, and by then, they were hot with sweat again.

            "I want to take a cool bath," Kagome complained, seeing the villagers around her smiling contentedly in the heat. "What's wrong with everyone?" she asked.

            "I think they all saw the mirror," Sango said, watching the villagers enviously. Nothing seemed to bother them.

            "They've placed the mirror in the local shrine," Miroku said, returning from his questioning. "We can finally see this legendary mirror that everyone is talking about."

            "And get out of the heat," Shippou said, sticking his tongue out in a useless action to cool himself. The group followed Miroku as he walked up the steps of the shrine, entering the cool building with a sigh.

            "Are you here to visit the Mirror?" a villager asked breezily.

            "Yes…" Miroku said, wondering what kind of demonic power the mirror had in order to have such an effect on these people.

            "To the right," the villager said before walking away.

            Miroku walked to the right of the shrine, seeing the smiling people passing by him to be strangely eerie. He wondered briefly if the spirit of the mirror was a woman, but immediately squished that thought away.

            They entered the well-lit room, and saw the mirror in the center. The last of the villagers in line had looked at the mirror, and was currently walking away happily. Miroku watched the mirror suspiciously, half expecting it to jump out and bite him.

            "I feel a slight amount of jyaki coming from it," Sango said, referring to the evil energy that seemed to be hidden inside the mirror.

            "So it's really a youkai?" Shippou asked, not really daring to wander too close to this reflecting evil.

            "Should we try it out?" Miroku asked.

            "No!" Sango said, a bit too loudly. "I mean, we might become zombie-like, since all the people we've encountered are acting that way." Miroku looked at the mirror, then finally threw one of his Ofuda at it. The mirror reflected the spell, and the paper floated down, having no effect.

            "How strange… My spell didn't work," Miroku said, wondering what was the best way to counter this youkai. Kagome watched as Miroku tried other spells on the mirror, and she couldn't help but feel that something about the mirror was familiar. When Miroku exhausted his batch of spells, she approached the mirror, and gazed into it.

            "Kagome-sama, don't—!" Miroku shouted in alarm, but it was too late. Kagome looked into the mirror, but saw only her reflection. She felt some of her recent sadness leave her, but other than that, she felt fine.

            "Kagome-chan, how do you feel?" Sango asked cautiously.

            "I feel great!" Kagome said, realizing that she actually felt happy. She felt as if her worries had left her and that she could take the world on in anything. "If this mirror is a youkai, it must be a nice one."

            "Are you sure you aren't under the youkai's spell?" Miroku asked, watching her carefully for any hints of being mind-controlled. He didn't find any, but he did feel Kagome's powers to be purer than before. He wondered if the mirror actually absorbed evil energy from people, leaving them with only the good, which was why they felt content afterwards.

            "Let me see the mirror," Sango said, carefully taking the mirror from Kagome's hands. She saw that it was a fairly large oval mirror. The surface was made of glass, showing how rare the mirror was. Most mirrors that she had seen were made of beaten bronze or copper, none made of glass with a strange reflecting material underneath. It was not ornately decorated, but small pictures of the sun and moon were carved into the ebony frame.

            Sango looked into the mirror, half-expecting to be sucked into some sort of trap, but nothing happened. She looked with confusion at Kagome, but after a few minutes, she started to feel…as if all the problems in the world were nothing. She felt like she wanted to go out and help everyone, even the ants, and that nothing was out of her ability to attain. She felt…purified.

            "This is a very strange mirror," Sango finally said. "If the world were covered with this type of mirror, there would be no criminals existing, and everyone would just love to help everyone else."

            "I want to see the mirror," Shippou said, curious about the strange properties of the mirror. Sango handed it to Shippou carefully. He looked warily into the mirror, and felt the mirror sucking his youki in at an alarming rate.

            "Ahhh! Get it away from me!" Shippou cried out, running away from the mirror.

            "Shippou-chan, what's wrong?" Kagome asked in concern as Sango quickly put the mirror back on its stand.

            "That… That mirror! It was sucking my youki!" Shippou said, still panicking.

            "Sucking your youki?" Kagome and Sango asked simultaneously.

            "Just as I had suspected," Miroku said suddenly. "The mirror purifies people by removing the evil energy in people, and in Shippou's case, a demon's energy."

            "The mirror can do that?" Sango asked.

            "Everyone who looked in it became happy because the negative energy of worry and strife were removed," Miroku explained. "Youkai are composed of negative energy—bad energy, if you will, and the mirror removes, or tries to remove all of it."

            "That means if I stare at the mirror too long, I'll die?" asked Shippou, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin.

            "You would be reduced to nothing but a shell," Miroku said. "If Inuyasha saw it, he would have probably turned human," he added thoughtfully.

            "Ichiro is coming tomorrow, so that means Inuyasha will be back soon!" Shippou said happily.

            "I never would have imagined Shippou to be glad for Inuyasha to return," Sango whispered to Kagome, who nodded in agreement. The two smiled at each other, the effects of the mirror keeping them from feeling too bad about Inuyasha's absence.

            "Travelers, do you like the mirror?" a beaming priest asked, entering the room. "Please take it, then. And share it with the world!" They looked at him strangely. The man must have spent too much time in front of the mirror.

            "If you insist, we will take it," Miroku said. The monk walked over to the mirror and gave it to Miroku.

            "We must spread this joy all over the land," the monk said, still smiling. "I must be off to do my chores now. Please enjoy yourselves if you wish to stay a little longer." He retrieved the broom in the room and walked out, humming a little tune.

            "That was weird," Kagome said. The others nodded in agreement.

            "Well, let us be on our way then," Miroku said, carrying the mirror out of the shrine.

            "Why would you want the mirror?" Sango asked, catching up to him. "You don't need it."

            "Of course I need it," Miroku said, sounding as if he were explaining things to a small child.

            "He needs it to bewitch people and con them," Kagome said, taking the mirror out of Miroku's hands. "I'll be keeping this safe."

            "Yeah. Miroku might use it to get a girl to actually bear his child," Shippou grinned, earning a bashing from Miroku. "Hey!"

            "Shippou speaks the truth," Sango said, knowing the monk would never change. "Kagome-chan, let's head back to Kaede's."

            "It'll be very late by the time we even walk half way back," Miroku said reasonably. "It would be terrible to ask Kirara to carry all of us in this weather, so I propose we stay some place around here for the night."

            "And do you have a particular place in mind, Miroku-sama?" Kagome asked slyly. Miroku only grinned in response.

            "Of course…"

            When the winds had cooled and the sun was near finished in setting, they reached the place that Miroku had suggested. Kagome recognized the familiar castle before them, remembering this place to be where that princess had asked Inuyasha for a favor. She gave a sideways glance at Miroku, wondering why he had decided to come here of all places.

            "Just couldn't get enough of that princess, could you?" Shippou asked Miroku in an annoying voice. Miroku ignored him and approached the door.

            "Don't you want a bath after today's heat?" Miroku asked them with a superior air. "Well, this castle happens to have a hot spring in it."

            "Really?" Sango and Kagome asked in union. A guard opened the door, and recognizing Miroku, immediately let him in.

            "So sorry to be such a bother so late in the day," Miroku said politely as he entered the castle grounds.

            "It is no problem, Houshi-sama," the guard said in embarrassment. "We are thankful for the help you gave us last time, so letting you stay for one night isn't such a bother."

            "Thank you," Kagome said, as the guard quickly returned to his post after whispering something to a nearby servant. A few minutes later, the princess appeared, smiling happily at seeing them again.

            "What a great pleasure it is to see you on this night," she said, bowing slightly at them. "Please enter. I have already requested rooms for you. This time, I've made sure you each have your own rooms to rest in."

            "You needn't have gone through all that trouble, Hime-sama," Miroku said politely, following the princess as she guided the group into the castle. Everything was as it had been last time, although it did feel as if it were slightly more empty than usual. Then again, it was night, so perhaps most of them had turned in for the night, even if it was still a little early to be doing so.

            "Where has your other friend gone?" the princess asked, noticing one in their number was missing. "My family did not give him much trouble, did they?" she asked, hoping that she had not caused them an inconvenience.

            "Of course not, Hime-sama," Miroku lied, not wanting to distress her. The princess smiled in relief, commanding one of her servants to open the door for her.

            "Please dine in this room," she said. "When you've finished, my servant will show you to your rooms."

            "Won't you please join us?" Miroku asked out of courtesy, but he could tell that Sango still became irritated.

            "I…have things I must attend to," she said softly, ducking her head. "I will join you when I can." She left the room quickly while servants entered with their dinner. When everything had been set, they exited the room, shutting the door quietly behind them. Miroku felt as if something was amiss, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

            "Let's eat!" Shippou said, disturbing the discomfort in the atmosphere. The child started wolfing down the food, and the other decided to do the same, although at a slower pace. In next to no time, they had finished their meal in silence. Shippou wished that Inuyasha were with them. At least he and Inuyasha could have fought about something trivial, filling the silence with their pointless bickering. Now, there was nothing but the sound of the wind and moths beating their wings.

            "Hime-sama has requested that I guide you to your rooms," a servant said in a low whisper, opening the door and bowing, waiting for them to exit. Miroku thought it strange that he had not heard her opening the door, but figured that servants were trained to be near invisible.

            The servant guided them to their rooms in complete silence; the only sound she made was when she slid the door open to allow one in their party to enter the room. Miroku was the last to enter the room, and before he could thank the lady that had led him there, she shut the door with a soft thud. He was left in a large room with a door that led to a garden, and a small light in the center of the room. He unrolled the futon near the lamp, and settled himself in it, waiting for sleep to claim him.

            As the others settled for sleep, Kagome unpacked the books in her backpack, hoping to get a bit of studying in before her lamp went out. She opened her math book first, wondering how many chapters she could try and learn today. After reading the first few paragraphs, she felt that her head would explode, and decided to move onto another subject, replacing the book back into her backpack.

            Her science book was a little better, but not much, and she decided that she should probably save that book for later. By the time that she had gone through the last book without really learning anything, it was well into the night. Strangely, the flame had not gone out yet, and Kagome wondered if she should try to take another book out and try to figure it out when she heard a muffled sound somewhere outside of her room.

            She debated whether or not to go out and find out what made the sound, but decided not to. Maybe someone had tripped on their way to the bathroom. Speaking of the bathroom, Kagome remembered that she had wanted to take a bath, and had forgotten about it. She sighed. She supposed it was too late to do anything about it, and proceeded to climb into her bed and blow the light out when she heard someone walking in the hallway. She waited, the irregular shining of the lamp casting strange images on the walls, making every shadow seem alive and moving. Her nerves became tense as she heard whatever it was stop outside of her door. She wished that she didn't have to sleep by herself. The sounds of the night were starting to scare her.

            "Kagome?" Shippou asked, poking his head into her room. She breathed a sigh of relief, almost laughing. She had thought that the sound belonged to a ghost, and was glad to discover that it was only Shippou.

            "What is it, Shippou-chan?" she asked, climbing into her bed.

            "Is it okay if I stay with you tonight?" he asked, sounding afraid. Kagome patted a spot on the bed, indicating for Shippou to go there, and the child closed the door behind him, running there quickly and snuggling beside Kagome.

            "Why aren't you asleep yet?" she asked, blowing the flame out.

            "I was scared. I never had to sleep alone yet," Shippou said, his voice muffled by the blanket. "My parents were always there, and when they were gone, you and Inuyasha were by my side," he said sleepily. "I don't want to be alone…"

            Kagome listened as Shippou's breathing became deep and even, and knew that she should go to sleep too. She closed her eyes, almost falling asleep when she felt the room become cooler. Had she left the window open? She buried herself deeper in her blanket, too lazy to go and close the window.

            Suddenly, she smelled something similar to old, dusty newspapers near her, and sat up, nearly screaming when she saw a flickering, blue flame in the darkness. But the image had disappeared so quickly that she thought she had imagined it all. _I must be tired, _she thought, turning around to get under the blankets again when she saw a face an inch away from hers. She barely opened her mouth to scream when the owner of the pale, drawn face clamped her mouth shut with a hand.

            "Kagome-sama, it is I," the woman whispered. Kagome recognized the voice to belong to the princess. She tried to calm herself down, and when the princess saw that she wasn't going to scream anymore, she removed her hand from her mouth.

            "What are you doing here?" Kagome whispered.

            "You have to wake the others silently," the princess said urgently. "My captor is about to find you. You have to leave. You are all in danger."

            "What?" Kagome asked, not understanding. "But the guards let us in…"         

            "Please, just do as I ask of you," the princess said desperately. "The new master of this castle does not have a gentle temper."

            "Yuki-hime," Kagome started, but was immediately silenced when the princess placed her hand over her mouth again. She seemed to listen to something, and when whatever it was had passed, she allowed Kagome to speak again.

            "Don't say my name," she whispered. "I might get punished for helping you." Kagome remembered that the princess was a hostage at the castle, but she didn't remember the people of the castle ever treating the princess poorly.

            "Why didn't you wake Miroku-sama first?" Kagome asked, recalling how the princess seemed to really like the delinquent monk. The princess looked surprised at her question, and it was a few moments before she responded.

            "This used to be my room," she said finally. "It was easier for me to return here."

            "Oh," Kagome answered, wishing she could turn on a light. She didn't like talking in this horrible blackness, unable to see what was in the shadows.

            "Be quick," the princess said. Kagome nodded, but doubted the princess could see her, and started to gently shake Shippou.

            "Shippou-chan," she whispered, shaking him harder when he didn't wake up. Still, the child's breathing was even, and his eyes remained closed in sleep. "Shippou-chan!" she whispered harshly, starting to panic. Why wasn't he awakening?

            "Kagome?" Shippou said groggily, finally waking up. She almost started crying in relief, and hugged the little kitsune, never wanting to let him go.

            "Hime-sama, who—?" Kagome asked, turning to face the princess, only to find no one there. The temperature had dropped to such a degree that she could see her breath, even in the darkness.

            "Kagome, what's wrong?" Shippou asked, becoming afraid when Kagome became surprised that no one was behind her. He didn't like the dark. He kept imagining there were monsters in the shadows and that someone or something was trying to sneak up on him.

            "Shippou-chan, get up," Kagome said, standing up. She picked up her bag, the mirror, and the bow and arrows, not bothering to change into her uniform. "We have to wake the others."

            Kagome was acting very strangely, and Shippou was finding that her actions were causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He followed her closely, staying by her legs as she slid the door open slowly, and stuck her head out a bit, trying to see if there was anyone in the hallway. When she saw the hallway to be empty, she tiptoed across the floor. Shippou suppressed the complaint he was about to give about cold floors, but decided that whatever Kagome was doing was more important than a child's grumbling.

            Kagome walked to the room opposite of hers, and Shippou remembered the room to belong to Sango. She swung the bow and quiver to her back, and with the mirror in her left hand, she tried to open the door with the other. She pulled on the tiny circle on the door, trying to slide the door open, but the door remained stuck. She tugged at the door harder, but with no results. She was starting to panic, and pulled on the door with all her might, but instead of the sound of the door opening, she heard the sound of something that sounded hauntingly like a body being dragged inside of Sango's room.

            Out of frustration, Kagome placed the mirror against the door, and tried once more to open it, and to her surprise, the door slid open easily. Kagome picked up the mirror and ran into the room with Shippou, her darkness-adjusted eyes making out Sango, who was halfway out of her futon. It didn't look like she had gotten out of her bed just because she was tossing and turning, and Kagome found Kirara to be nowhere near her master, and instead was sprawled out near a corner. Shippou quickly ran to Kirara, while Kagome did the same to Sango. Kirara woke after Shippou touched it gently, but try as hard as she could, Kagome could not shake Sango back into the real world.

            "Sango-chan!" she whispered desperately, wanting to scream at her friend to awaken. Finally, Sango blinked sleepily at her, wondering what Kagome and Shippou were doing in her room.

            "Shippou-chan, stay with her," Kagome said quickly, grabbing her things and running as quietly as she could out of the door. She already had a hard time waking Shippou and Sango. What if she couldn't wake Miroku? And why did it seem that something had been in Sango's room, dragging her out of bed?

            Kagome looked around the several doors in the hallway, not sure where Miroku's room was. She had been the second to choose a room, so she didn't know which room Miroku had been guided to. She tried opening the door next to her room, only to encounter a terrible blackness, and a cold mist that flowed out of the room. She shut the door as fast as she could, and tried another door, trying not to notice that the mist seemed to be following her.

            The next door opened easily, and Kagome nearly stopped in her tracks as she saw what was happening. Miroku was clad in the white of his sleeping robe, the paleness of the clothes setting him off from the darkness, looking peaceful in sleep, but was hanging from the ceiling by a bluish…rope? Hand?

            "Miroku-sama!" Kagome screamed, running towards him. He was being hanged in his sleep and he didn't notice? She hastily dropped the mirror on the floor and grabbed at Miroku's legs, not knowing how to get a hanged man down, but the moment she touched him, the mysterious, hazy…rope, she decided to call it, that had been around his neck disappeared, causing him to drop on to her like a sack of potatoes.

            "Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked, waking up. His hand went to his neck automatically, feeling a strange pain there. He could feel the smooth surface of his neck slightly punctuated with what felt like five tiny, shallow wounds; four on one side of his neck and one on the other side. He wondered if Kagome had been choking him, but brushed the thought aside as impossible.

            "Miroku-sama, we have to get out of here," Kagome said, half panicking and half relieved. "Something strange is happening around this place."

            "Then let's get the others," Miroku said without questioning Kagome's bizarre actions. There was something in the darkness that he couldn't quite place, and the feeling kept on fleeting in and out of his mind, making him unsure if he were just imagining it.

            "Don't forget your mirror," Miroku said, picking the mirror up and handing it to Kagome when she was about to run out of the room. He noticed that there was a light, blue mist in the hallway that seemed to grab at Kagome's ankles as she ran out. He followed her quickly, dispelling the mysterious mist with a spell.

            "Sango-chan!" Kagome called out in a quiet whisper as she saw Sango about to walk down the opposite direction.

            "Kagome-chan, what's happening?" Sango asked, looking unsettled, and walking towards her. "Do you know who attacked Kirara?"

            "Attacked Kirara?" Miroku asked, not understanding how someone was able to attack the giant cat, especially if Sango was there.

            "She has a bump on her head," Sango said, not knowing the answer, either.

            "Let's—" Kagome started, but stopped. The others looked at her questioningly, wondering what was wrong when they heard it, too. Down the hall, there was the sound of heavy cloth being dragged on the floor. Slowly, the sound was inching towards them, the sliding noise getting louder with each "step" it took.

            "It does not feel friendly," Miroku said in the barest of whispers. He grabbed the links in his staff, hoping to silence the jingling that they usually made and gestured for the others to follow him. As quietly as they could, they moved away from the empty thudding of the sound, proceeding in the opposite direction. Without aid of light, they stumbled through the darkness, trying their best to make no noise.

            "Kagome-sama, please explain to me what is going on here," Miroku asked in a quiet whisper, as they walked the many hallways, trying to find the exit.

            "Yuki-hime just came to me and told me to wake you guys up and get out of here," Kagome said, clenching the mirror tightly, trying not to be afraid. "She said the master of the house was going to harm us, and warned me to escape. Before I could ask any more, she was gone."

            "What do you mean, 'gone?'" Miroku asked, not liking the feeling that he was beginning to have on the backs of his arms. He rubbed them, but the feeling of being hunted did not fade away.

            "She disappeared, okay?" Kagome said, to concentrate where she was going in the dark.

            "Disappeared?" asked Sango. Miroku held up a hand for silence as he strained his ears in the dark, wishing that Inuyasha were there to identify the sound that was fast approaching them. It sounded like a rat scratching on the floor, but this had to be an extremely large rat to be making the sound it did, and Miroku had a feeling that he would rather face a rat, than whatever it was that was advancing towards them.

            He opened a nearby door and gestured for the others to go in, shutting the door when the last of them had entered the room. They waited in silence as they heard the sound move past them, heading down the hallway.

            Sango let out the breath she was holding, and turned around, nearly giving herself a fright when she saw something close to her face. It was only a sheet of cloth, and she felt foolish for having been afraid of that.

            "This looks like a room for dyeing cloth," Miroku said, commenting on the rows of cloth hanging from poles that ran across the ceiling. It was an open room, letting the night breeze from the garden outside to enter and dry the dye, causing the large sheets to wave softly in the wind.

            They leaned against the wall of the door, debating whether to go back into the hallway or try their luck through the garden. Sango watched the rhythmic waving of the cloth, feeling slightly calmed by the familiar movement. She saw that most of the cloths were dyed a dark color that was indistinguishable in the darkness and that one of the cloths near her was dripping with the still wet dye, filling the empty room with that steady sound.

            Shippou sniffed the air experimentally, and sure enough, he had not been imagining it. There seemed to be the scent of blood in the room, but where it was coming from, he didn't know. He looked at a strange pool that was forming underneath one of the cloths. Was the smell coming from that cloth?

            Sango petted Kirara, while Miroku and Kagome debated quietly which direction to head towards. The waving of the cloths was making her sleepy. But wait a minute… Was one of the cloths moving towards her? She watched the other cloths still swing in the breeze, as this cloth defied nature and reached out towards her ever so slowly. She was frozen in fear, wanting to scream or back away, but unable to do either.

            The door suddenly opened with a jerk, a rotting hand trying to pry the door open as Miroku tried to hold the door closed.

            "Kagome-sama!" he gasped, and Kagome quickly helped him slam the door closed.

            "Sango!" Shippou cried out as one of the cloths near her started to stretch in an effort to get her. Sango finally snapped out of it, taking a step back. But the cloth didn't give up in its pursuit, and continued to reach towards her, causing the other cloths in the room to start waving madly.

            Miroku gasped as a hand shot through the door and pinned him against it, a ghostly arm starting to cut off his air supply.

            "Miroku-sama!" Kagome screamed, trying to pull the arm away. Miroku took out an Ofuda and placed it against the door, activating it with a choked spell, and the arm released him, dropping him on the ground. He gasped for air, but didn't have any time to rest as he heard something slamming into the door.

            "I guess we take the garden route," he said, but did not know how to respond when he saw all the cloths in the room twitching and reaching at them. Was a ghost controlling the cloths? He tried to feel for the source of the phantom occurrence, but found that it seemed to come from everywhere.

            The door behind him started to bend as whatever was in the hallway slammed into it again. He took out another spell and placed it on the door, hoping that it would hold for a little longer, and tried to use his priest powers to stop the unnatural movement in the room. But his power did not seem to have any effect.

            "Let's just run across," Kagome said, rather bravely. "They're just stupid cloth anyway, right? If they grab at us, we can just…rip them apart!" she said, trying to convince herself. If Inuyasha were here, he _would_ rip them apart before crossing, but since he wasn't, she supposed they would just have to run and hope for the best.

            "Then let's run!" Miroku said, dashing into the forest of cloth, trying to shove the branches of the reaching cloths away. Kagome ran after him, the mirror seeming to pulse in agreement at her decision. But halfway through the room, she was tangled in the living cloth, tripping as the cloth tried to grab her and suffocate her.

            "Get away!" she screamed, using the mirror as a weapon and waving it around. It was a pity that the mirror didn't work unless someone or something stared directly into it, otherwise she would use it to suck up the obvious evil energy in the room.

            Kagome saw that the others were having similar troubles to her own, and to her horror, she saw that the door had been broken down, though she saw no trace of anyone other than her friends in the room. Something pulled her down from behind, sending her crashing onto the floor, and whatever had pulled her down grabbed a nearby piece of cloth and circled her neck with it, starting to choke her to death. Kagome tried grabbing the cloth around her neck, but whoever it was that was slowly killing her was strong, and she couldn't break the person's grasp.

            With what energy she had left, she reached for the mirror, and placing her life on an unknown chance, she brought the mirror up so that it would reflect the one behind her. Immediately, a hoarse scream was heard, and Kagome felt the cloth around her neck slacken. Kagome dared to look into the mirror, and saw a horrible, rotting face transform into that of a young maid.

            Kagome turned around, and saw a young woman sitting on the ground, looking shocked. Kagome watched as everything happened in reverse. The rotting corpse started to transform back into the state before it rotted, and the bruise around the girl's neck faded away. The girl reached a hand to her neck, and looked surprised at Kagome before fading away. The angry cloths in the room stopped their angry attack, and settled down, looking as normal as ever.

            "Kagome-sama, what did you do?" asked Miroku, running to her, panting for air. Before she had a chance to answer, the invisible ghosts that had entered the room through the broken door appeared, the ghosts numbering half a dozen.

            Miroku started throwing his Ofuda at them while Kagome fit an arrow into her bow. She fired, and cursed as she missed her target, the arrow instead embedding itself in the wall. The entire castle shuddered, the arrow falling useless on the ground, and the attacking ghosts quickly exited the room, leaving them alone in silence.

            "What is this place?" Sango said, wanting to shriek in frustration, but holding her emotions in check. Shippou quickly ran to Kagome, while the group moved together to the center of the room, wondering if the phantoms were going to attack again.

            "It seems that we have stumbled into a Palace of the Dead," Miroku said calmly, recollecting himself.

            "How can you say that so calmly?" Sango asked, her fear getting the better of her. "We're going to die here!"

            "No we're not!" Kagome cut in sharply. "We are _not_ going to die in this…in this god forsaken place! I _refuse_ to die here!" The others looked in shock at her outburst, while she tried to calm herself down.

            "We can't stay in this room forever," Miroku said once he deemed the atmosphere safe enough to speak in again. "Let's try to find our way out." He looked dubiously at the dark hallway, and decided that the moonlit garden was perhaps safer. In silence, they followed him out of the room.

            As they walked out, Miroku noticed a strange mist covering the room, and looking like it was searching for something. He quickly led the others to hide in the brush of a nearby pond, watching as the mist spread through the room they were in a moment ago, almost looking like it was feeling its way around. When it found nothing, the mist retreated back into the hallway, leaving them safe outside.

            "Houshi-sama, where do we go now?" Sango asked, looking at the moon in the sky. It was halfway to its highest point in, and Sango wondered if that meant it was early night, or late night. She hoped it was the latter because she didn't think she could stand any more surprises.

            "I have no idea," Miroku said, for the first time sounding worried. "In running all over the castle, I'm afraid I am thoroughly lost." They sighed, and as Shippou looked at the garden around him, the others started discussing ways of possibly escaping.

            He looked at the soft, pastel white lilies in the pond, shining as the moon cast its beams upon them. The garden was incredibly tranquil, unlike the darkness inside the castle. The grass was kept fairly short, and the small flowers that were only buds in this hour of the night lay in decorative patches, making the garden pleasant with its simple beauty.

            Shippou looked back at the pond while the others continued to argue which of their plans were the best. Shippou watched as the red lilies floated on the surface of the pond, looking like—wait… Red?

            Shippou let out an inaudible squeak as the lilies started to slowly rise out of the water, turning to face him, their roots the only thing keeping them in the pond. He grabbed at Kagome's clothes, yanking at them, trying to tell her to look, but no words coming out of his mouth.

            "Ka—Ka—Ka," was all he managed.

            "Shippou-chan, what—?" she started, until she saw what had scared him so. Suddenly, the scarlet lilies changed to bloody hands as they shot out of the water, trying to grab them. Kagome grabbed Shippou and ran, quickly followed by Sango and Miroku.

            "Is no place safe?" gasped Sango, looking behind her to see the red arms return to the pond, changing back to the peaceful, white lilies.

            "You're still here?" a voice asked from the castle. They looked up towards the raised wooden floor of the castle, seeing the princess that had warned them standing there.

            "Yuki-hime, would you mind explaining to me what is going on here?" Miroku asked, entering the castle once again. 

            "I—I don't know," she said, looking trapped.

            "Can you at least guide us out?" Kagome asked, not wanting to wander around the castle blindly again.

            "Please… Follow me," the princess said after a brief pause, walking into the dark hallway, her vermilion kimono the only thing that allowed them to see where she was.

            "I would still like an answer to my question, Hime-sama," Miroku said, his usually calm voice sounding like it was on edge. For a moment, he thought she wasn't going to reply, until she finally spoke.

            "I… I can't seem to remember what happened," she said in a soft voice. "All I remember is that the master of the castle has changed."

            "To whom?" Miroku pressed, but the princess signaled for him to be silent. They proceeded in the darkness cautiously, their ears and eyes out for anything that would betray a phantom's presence.

            The princess turned a corner, the group losing sight of her for a moment. They chased after her, not wanting to lose their guide, but when they rounded the corner, they saw no one there.

            "She's a ghost!" Shippou wailed, and Kagome tried to quiet him. But no one refuted his statement.

            "Do you think she led us to the exit?" Sango asked, unable to penetrate the wall of darkness before her. Miroku took a step forward. A bluish hand suddenly shot out from the darkness and grabbed his ankle, making him fall and dragging him down the long hallway with great speed.

            "Houshi-sama!" Sango shouted in fear, chasing after him. Kagome and Shippou ran after them, feeling the darkness close around them like a suffocating hand.

            Miroku tried using his spells, but couldn't get into the right angle to shoot them at the ghastly hand, and instead tried to use his holy staff to dissipate the hand, succeeding only in making dents on the floor, the staff passing through the hand. _What the hell—? Why aren't my powers working here? _Miroku thought in panic and frustration. The only time he had ever heard a monk's powers fail was when the opponent overpowered the monk. Did that mean his powers were not sufficient to fight the ghosts of this castle?

            "Miroku-sama!" Kagome shouted, trying to catch up to him. Finally, the hand released him, and he looked up, seeing a strange man holding a lantern lighted by a blue flame. Miroku looked at the man, appalled to see that one of his legs were missing, and another arm hung by a vein of a blood vessel, ready to fall away. The man's face seemed to be rotting, and broke into a lopsided grin as the ghost faded into the wall, disappearing from sight.

            "Miroku, what was that?" Shippou asked, wanting to escape from this place.

            "This place is filled with vengeful spirits," Miroku said, getting up and dusting himself off. "The phantoms that we've encountered have all tried to harm us. And it seems that Yuki-hime led us to a dead end," he said, inspecting the wall that the ghost had faded through. He put his hand on it, feeling the solid, but cold wall under his hand.

            "All the ghosts look creepy," Kagome shuddered. "Well, except for Yuki-hime."

            "The ones that look hideous probably have a lot of hatred in their hearts," Miroku said, wondering where to go next. "Yuki-hime said that she did not remember what happened, so perhaps she does not bear the hatred that the others do."

            "Miroku-sama," someone called out from the hallway. They turned and saw the said princess standing there, looking confused. "Why didn't you follow me?"

            "We did," Miroku said, no longer trusting the woman.

            "Why didn't you follow me?" the princess asked again. This time, it was Miroku who looked at her in confusion.

            "But we did," Kagome said, but the girl didn't seemed to have heard her. Kagome felt the temperature around her drop drastically. _Oh no, _she thought, hoping that something bad wasn't about to happen.

            "It's a dead end," the princess said suddenly, as if realizing that for the first time. "The door has been blocked."

            "What do you mean?" asked Shippou, his childish voice seeming to cut into her senses.

            "The master of the house has discovered you," she said, sounding normal once more. "This hallway was supposed to lead to the exit. She's changed the layout of the castle again," the princess said, for once sounding clear-headed. "There's a back door, but I doubt she would leave that open."

            "Yuki-hime?" Miroku asked. He had never heard her use that tone of voice before.

            "Please forgive me, Miroku-sama," she said, some gentleness reasserted in her voice. "But I will try to find another exit for you."

            "Why don't you tell us what on earth is going on here?" Sango asked. "The last time we came, everyone seemed fine, and now, there's ghosts all overt he place!" The princess turned to her slowly, the kindness that she had shown before absent.

            Suddenly, the entire hallway lit up, torches burning brightly with blue flames on the walls. The princess took a step towards them, her red-orange kimono fading into the white of the clothes worn underneath, her face terrible with wrath.

            "They betrayed me," she whispered, her eyes lit by unholy fire. "That's why… That's why I made sure none of them escaped."

            "Hime-sama, what are you talking about?" Miroku asked as she took a step closer. The white of her clothes became suddenly stained with scarlet as several wounds opened up all over her.

            "I helped them in a way that I should not," she said, her brow creasing in horrible anger. "I gave them the message for this house's weakness. I told them when to attack so that they could retrieve me." She took another step, the floor beneath her shining with her dark blood. Miroku and the others took a step back, wondering what was the best thing to do.

            "They attacked…but they did not save me," she said in a low voice, dripping with bitterness and hatred. "The son of my captors cut me up and left me to bleed to death," she said, her voice so low that it was hard to hear. Suddenly, several gashes ripped up her face, covering it in bloody red, the once beautiful face a distant memory, replaced by this image of hate.

            "My brother saw me. And he did nothing. He did _nothing_!" she screamed, the walls of the hallway suddenly falling away, revealing a much bigger space than had appeared a moment ago. "He only used me as a distraction, waiting for my murderer to turn his back so that he could stab him!"

            "Hime-sama," Miroku tried, hoping to calm her down.

            "So I killed them all. I burnt this place in the flames of Hell. And they all died," she said, starting to laugh. Shippou cringed at the bloody woman, moving closer to Kagome. Suddenly, Kagome felt something.

            "Shikon no Kehai!" she said, sensing the presence of a Shikon shard. "The princess has it!"

            "I won't let anyone live," the princess said, looking down on them. "I won't allow anyone to enjoy their life while I must suffer and die."

            "Hime-sama, you are not like this," Miroku said, trying to coax the woman he knew back into this phantom.

            "No… The princess that you knew was not like this," she agreed. "Such a meek and powerless creature, doing only as her family bade her. And what has become of her?" she asked acidly.

            "She…um…died?" Shippou suggested. Kagome quickly shut his mouth, but the woman had heard him.

            "She is dead. Just as all of you will be!" she screamed, with a wave of her hand, commanding the blue flames to engulf them. Miroku quickly set up a barrier to deflect the flame, but amidst the laughter of the princess, he knew that he could not hold the barrier up for long.

            "Houshi-sama, do you think Hiraikotsu can kill her?" Sango asked, her large weapon out for usage.

            "Try," he said, allowing a small hole to appear in the barrier. Sango threw the boomerang out gracefully, but was met with only more laughter.

            "You wish to use a mortal weapon to destroy me?" the princess laughed, letting the flames around them die down. Miroku released his barrier, trying to think of a good spell to counter this wretched creature. But his previous spells had barely worked here, so what guarantee did he have that they would work against this ghost?

            "Hime-sama, do not be offended that I am trying to destroy you," Miroku said. Kagome looked at him with surprised confusion. Why would you tell a ghost that?

            Miroku threw the paper spells at the princess, only to have her burn them up as if they were nothing.

            "No longer am I that princess," she said angrily. "I am now the master of this house, and of your lives!" Ghosts suddenly appeared everywhere, attacking the group.

            "I guess trying to appeal to the princess' good side didn't work," Miroku said as he leaped away from a phantom attack.

            "Kitsune-bi!" Shippou shouted, using his flame to counter theirs. Sango tried to cut the spirits with her sword, her boomerang lying beyond the former princess, but managed to do nothing. Kirara transformed and tried its usual attacks, but with no results.

            Kagome fit an arrow in her bow and aimed towards the princess, hoping to destroy the source of the problem, but the spirits started attacking her relentlessly, giving her no chance to even fire an arrow. She started waving the charged up arrow around, managing to singe some of the ghosts with her power, and scaring off others.

            But as she succeeded in clearing a small circle for herself, the others became more and more in danger. Sango tried one last desperate slash at a ghost, who realized she couldn't harm him, and decided to attack. The ghost threw her against the wall, yanking her up by the hair to repeat the attack when Miroku threw a spell at the ghost, only to be captured by the princess in his moment of distraction.

            The cool, blue flame wrapped around him, and the princess watched, smirking as she started to squeeze his soul out of him. Shippou tried to save him, but was shoved into a phantom pond, created by the new mistress to destroy the life within her castle walls. He felt himself drowning as several semi-transparent hands held him underwater.

            "Let them go!" Kagome shouted, her blood pounding in her ears. She fired an arrow at the princess, who only used one of the ghosts to deflect the arrow. The sacrificed spirit screamed in agony as it burst into a million pieces, disappearing into the night.

            "Specter to fight specter," the girl laughed. "Die, if you wish to challenge my power."

            A new surge of ghosts surrounded Kagome. She took her arrow, using it to wave off the ghosts, but unable to find a lapse in their attack to save her friends. Miroku's soul was a third out; Sango and Kirara were being manipulated like marionettes to attack each other; Shippou was drowning in a water that did not exist. Kagome could feel tears of desperation coming from her eyes, but she couldn't do anything except protect herself. If only Inuyasha were there… Inuyasha would be able to do something. Inuyasha would be able to defeat foes that no one else thought him able to.

            Suddenly, the mirror that she had placed on the floor to fire her arrow began pulsing. She noticed that all the ghosts avoided getting near it, so quickly ran to the mirror. The ghosts still lunged at her, but she noticed that they weren't getting any closer. Maybe now, she could fire her arrow…

            "Miroku-sama, hold on!" she shouted, firing another arrow towards him. The princess batted the arrow away angrily, burning her hand, but succeeding in stopping Kagome. Kagome saw the Shikon shard in the princess' heart glow, and the damaged hand was quickly repaired.

            "You annoying brat!" the woman screamed, diving at her. Kagome screamed in turn, not knowing what else to do. She quickly picked up the mirror and held it to the princess, who backed away, screaming in agony.

            "Get that mirror away from her!" she commanded her servants, who feared their mistress more than they feared the mirror.

            "Get away!" Kagome shouted, trying to scare them off with the mirror. But there was no way that she could possibly get all of the ghosts to look into it…

            She picked up her quiver of arrows and decided to use that instead. A spirit grabbed her hand while she reached for her arrows, causing her to scatter the arrows all over the floor. With a single arrow in her hand Kagome tried to reach for her bow, not knowing how she was going to try to fire an arrow while holding the mirror.

            The mirror started pulsing rapidly, and seemed to start shaking in her hands. Kagome followed the direction the mirror seemed to be shaking, and managed to reach Shippou, knocking the ghosts away with her purifying arrow.

            "Shippou-chan!" she shouted in worry. Shippou climbed out of the pool, wet and gasping for air, but otherwise fine.

            "Miroku! Kagome, look at Miroku!" Shippou shouted, pointing to a helpless Miroku who had half of his soul outside of his body. Kagome reached for her bow to fire the arrow, but found that she had left it behind when she had run to Shippou.

            "Kagome-chan! Escape while you still can!" Sango shouted at her, barely managing to dodge Kirara's controlled attacks.

            "No!" Kagome shouted stubbornly.

            "Where's Inuyasha when you need him?" Shippou wailed, standing next to Kagome's legs, depending on her to protect him.__

_            What would you do, Inuyasha? _Kagome wondered. _What would you do if you were here?_ Again, she felt the mirror pulsing, almost as if something inside was trying to escape from its prison. The mirror started shaking again, and it was all Kagome could do to hold onto it.__

_            Is something inside the mirror? _Kagome thought. She could feel evil energy start flowing from the mirror, as if the energy of the ghosts around it were helping whatever was inside to escape. _Do I break the mirror? Do I release whatever has been sealed here?_ Hadn't she released Inuyasha when everyone else had said he was evil? Perhaps if she tried her luck once more, she would be saved…

            She brought the arrow she was holding in her hand down on the mirror. The arrow started to glow, then faded as it scattered into sprinkles of energy. The mirror started to crack down the middle, and the crack slowly spread to the sides.

            "Kagome, what are you doing?" asked Shippou hysterically. "Can't you feel there's something evil inside?" Shippou shrieked as the surface of the mirror shattered, and Kagome threw the mirror away, shielding herself and Shippou from the shards of glass.

            The princess dropped Miroku from her hold, backing away as shards of light was strewn around the room. Miroku's soul quickly returned, and he rubbed his head, glad to be back in one piece. But was the price worth it? What exactly had Kagome done when she broke the mirror?

            "Kirara!" Sango shouted, scooping the transformed cat away from the ghosts now that they were preoccupied. She ran over to Miroku and watched as something emerged from the depths of the mirror. Bathed in light in this house of darkness, the figure looked to be an angel sent to protect them.

            "Where the hell am I?" a familiar voice asked. Miroku and the others gaped as the light faded away to reveal a very familiar person indeed.

            "Who the fuck are you?" he asked as he saw some bloodied woman before him. _Huh. And I thought that I was the one being killed, _he thought in confusion. _What happened to those two guys anyway?_

            "I—Inuyasha?!" Kagome gasped, not quite sure she was seeing the truth. What was he doing inside the mirror? What was he doing in this world?!

            "Kagome?" he asked, looking at her. She gasped as she saw his eyes. They were lavender? And yet his hair was still the same silver of his demon form… 

            He leapt over to her and looked at her critically. "What are you doing, running around in your sleeping clothes?"

            "Don't you have anything else to say?" she asked.

            "I'll get rid of this pest first," he said, turning to look at the ghost, who didn't seem to be so confident anymore. "We'll talk later."

            "Destroy him!" the princess screamed in desperation, commanding those under her to attack Inuyasha. With a swipe from his claws, their souls were scattered, and Inuyasha leapt in mid-air to go after the real culprit.

            In the moment before his attack was initiated, his demonic claws elongated, slicing through the specter like tearing through water. A spirit that could not be hurt by the worldly bone boomerang, nor by the mortal claws of the giant cat, was finally torn by the hand of one that was thought to be in false death.

            Through the heart of the barely recognizable princess he ripped, by chance coming upon the embedded Shikon shard. In a hand covered by phantom blood, he grasped the tiny shard, watching as the ghost fell towards the ground, her form of hatred dissipating, changing her back to the pale-faced princess, used to imprisonment.

            "Hime-sama," the priest started, but the princess calmly cut him off. There was a sort of temporary peace in her eyes, but that was all that was needed.

            "I leave now, Miroku-sama," she said, her voice soft with death. "I part before my hatred returns with my memory." She looked sadly at Miroku, but despite her sorrow, she smiled. "I…am most honored to have been able to see you…one last time."

            She got on her knees, bowing deeply to Miroku, her forehead touching the floor, and she held her position there, waiting.

            Miroku shook his head, knowing what it was she asked of him. He walked towards her, his staff jingling, once more unsuppressed. The princess flinched as he slammed the staff down near her head. In silence, he prayed, bringing the holy staff to rest lightly on the guilty princess' head, his eyes shut in concentration as he prepared to send her soul to its final rest. He did not need to look to see that she was gone from this plane of existence and beyond.

            Slowly, the castle walls melted away. The large, empty room they had fought in faded into memories past, leaving in its wake, ashes of those that had fought the bloody battle that cost a young, innocent woman to lose her life and soul to hatred.

            The dawn climbed lazily into the sky, illuminating a sight common in the Sengoku Jidai, while the wind stirred what spirits remained to rest. Charred beams and dead embers littered the entire perimeter, and beneath some of the debris, the burnt bodies of the dead lied peacefully. The pure light from the sun washed away the nightmares of the night, leaving only truth for them to see.

            Feeling the morning sun shower him with warmth, Miroku turned to Inuyasha, looking at his friend for the first time since he had emerged from the mirror. His greeting was lost on his lips as he stared dumfounded.

            "Anyone care to explain how the hell I ended up here?" Inuyasha asked grumpily.

            "I was going to ask you the same thing," Miroku said, not understanding what he was seeing.

            "Inuyasha, your eyes are purple!" Shippou said, pointing.

            "What are you talking about?" Inuyasha demanded grouchily. Kagome rummaged in her bag for her little mirror and took it out.

            "Why don't you see for yourself?" she asked, while the others were too shocked to see a purple-eyed Inuyasha to say anything. He looked at himself in the mirror.

            There was a brief silence.

            "What the HELL did they DO?!"

**Notes:** "Yoko" means sun, I think. In Chinese stories, there are seven goddesses in heaven that are the daughters of the Jade Emperor. They weave the tapestry of the night (though some of the other sources I checked just say they're servants). The seven ladies do not have names, so I decided to give them names. Since there are seven days in a week, and in Japan, each day corresponds to an element or something, I decided to name the oldest of the seven, "sun." Sunday to Saturday is: Sun, Moon, Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, and Gold.

The sister Yoko refers to is the youngest, who, stories say, fell in love with a cowherd. Since love is not allowed in heaven (though I don't understand how the emperor got his kids), they were banned from seeing each other. However, every year, the magpies (birds, in case you didn't know) would form a bridge for them, allowing them to cross the Milky Way (which is like a river to them). That is why magpies molt each ear (from the two lovers walking on their heads).

In Chinese stories, there are eighteen levels of hell, level eighteenth being the worst.


	9. Master of Immortality

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in so long, but at least I've kept my promise and actually came out with a new chapter. The reason this chapter took so long to come out was probably because I was and still am dissatisfied with it, but after rewriting this chapter for more than four times (trust me, that took a long time), I finally thought, "Enough is enough!" so here you have it. After one year (or longer), chapter nine…

A God's Game

Chapter IX: Master of Immortality 

            "So you have come," she said, her soft voice barely audible in the song of the night. She closed her eyes, glowing with ethereal power, and laid one, pale hand on the bark of the ancient God tree. She inhaled the scent of the night, feeling the life of the world around her fill her soul and enhance her innate power. Exhaling, she let her power flow steadily into the God tree, willing it to grow and live as it had once lived.

            The foliage around her started to grow and bloom at an unearthly rate, reaching for the sky and covering the earth with a green that blossomed forth from her gift of life. Night flowers unfurled, coaxed by the goddess' gentle power, as vines curled around the trees, leaves opening to catch the little moonlight that was out.

            Beneath her, the waving grass lengthened and became soft--a pillow for travelers wandering through the beautiful world on this night. But still, as the world around her grew verdant with life, the sacred tree would not change in its appearance. Tall it stood, still green, but the green unaffected by her power, unable to spread its leafy cover to the night sky.

            "Do you not know that it is the duty of the sun to cause these plants to grow, not the moon?" the calm voice came from behind her. She opened her eyes slowly, unwilling to admit defeat, but she knew that something within the great tree was keeping her power from taking effect.

            "Do you not know that the moon has the gift to awaken the sleeping life within the world that you see around you?" she answered, equally as cool and calm. She faced him, smiling in remembrance as she saw him. Older now, and taller. Time seemed to have been easy on his years, for the passing ages had not seemed to affect him.

            He smirked, a trait of his that could not be forgotten. A smile that could not be called a smile, for it was filled with a kind of contempt, disdain and pride that all that had his blood displayed, even her own son at times.

            "Goddess, you will never awaken that tree. Especially not since the son of the sun has long been sleeping within its arms."

            She looked at him curiously, unsure of what to make of his statement. She knew he was telling her something, something important for he was not one to waste words. But she could not decipher what mystery he was trying to weave around her.

            "I had come, originally, to see if the others had returned also, but now I understand that you are the only one," he said, his voice conveying no describable emotion. Almost a hint of regret, or perhaps of a grief not forgotten.

            "Those who have gone cannot return," she said gently, reminding him of the natural way of things, though she knew he needed no reminder.

            "But a goddess can come and go as she pleases," he said, obvious anger and resentment beneath his words. He smiled suddenly, a smile that was not displayed for any show of happiness. "Did Chichi-ue know that you are one of _them_?"

            "Can the moon ever hide from the grace of the sun?"

            His expression seemed to darken, though it could have been a trick of her perception as storm clouds lazily rolled by. Briefly, she watched the clouds, feeling a wild energy pulsing through the floating water in heaven's body.

            She turned back to him, and was reminded of his father as his eyes glowed with an inner light in the darkness. But unlike his father, Sesshoumaru's eyes gleamed like ice, like daggers whose blades were exposed to catch the life and light of a distant star.

            "The moon never tried to hide from the sun," was his brief reply. "She stood in his path until it was certain that he would see her."

            "No moon will fall from its path for the sake of another force," she asserted quietly, the sounds of the night dying away in her ears, allowing her to hear only her heartbeat, an illusion that she could never quite dispel after her time upon this realm. Only his words still lingered in the still air.

            "The moon did not need to fall from her flight to steal the sun's light."

            He forced himself to calm down and not jump at every sound that he was hearing. He could hear the snap of a twig by a sparrow miles away, farther than what he used to be able to hear, and he could hear the sound of hearts beating behind him as Kagome and the others followed him wearily, the lack of sleep from last night taking their toll. He could hear everything. Or, at least, that was what it seemed to him. The events of the past few days were still a blur to him. His sharp eyes caught the antics of a grasshopper leaping to a higher blade of grass in a distance that he could not have hoped to have seen to before, reminding him of the strange change that had come over him.

            A brief glance to the rest of the group told him that he should probably let them rest for a while, although he was reluctant to give them that rest because he didn't want to hear about the speculations of his change, as they were likely to make if he should give them a moment's repose. So doggedly, he dragged them on. A slight rustle to his left and his senses were on alert again, but when he saw that it was only a squirrel, he calmed down again. All these changes were starting to make him paranoid. He could almost feel his ears stiffen with every false alarm he was receiving, but he knew he was just imagining it. He had no dog-ears.

            Perhaps that had been more surprising than the fact that his eyes had turned to a violet hue. His eyes always transformed colors on the night of the new moon, but his ears… They had never once looked like the ears that Sesshoumaru possessed. At least, not for the extended period of time that this had been. In between transformations these ears existed, and he had often wondered how he might look like with this type of ears, ears that were a mark of a pure-blooded demon, but he never imagined that he would one day actually have them. He remembered how he used to envy Sesshoumaru when he was young. Of course, he would admit that to no one, but he had wanted to be like Sesshoumaru. Not in his demeanor, perhaps, but in the way that Sesshoumaru was always able to go anywhere he pleased, even without an invitation, and still be welcomed. Though he had been a child, he had still been able to feel that he was unwelcomed, even if an invitation had been sent to him.

            "Inuyasha," Shippou whined, bringing him back from his reverie. "I want to rest. If I go on any further, I'll die."

            "Fine, take a few minutes," he answered, watching everyone else plop down with a great sigh of relief. He jumped in to the branches of a nearby tree, needing some time to think, as well as a better vantage point. He remembered why he liked trees. They never tried to kick him out.

            "Is it just me, or is Inuyasha a bit twitchy this morning?" Kagome whispered to the others, hoping that Inuyasha didn't hear. Unfortunately or fortunately, Inuyasha heard everything clearly as if she were talking right into his ear.

            "He does seem to be a bit jumpy," Sango conceded, really too tired to think clearly. Hiraikotsu seemed to get heavier with every passing step, and the lack of sleep last night didn't help any.

            "Perhaps there have been more changes than meets the appearance," Miroku suggested. "You do realize that he looks like a full-blooded youkai now, don't you?"

            "And full-blooded youkai always have greater power," Shippou said proudly. Inuyasha had to resist the urge of breaking off a branch of the tree and throwing it at Shippou's head. _Arrogant brat_, he thought, though he couldn't really repudiate the child's words.

            "What do you mean?" asked Kagome. "You mean like, he can see and smell better?"

            "Perhaps more, if Sesshoumaru is any model," Sango said. "He might be his brother's equal now."

            "Keh! Sesshoumaru will never be _my_ equal!" Inuyasha shouted down at them, sounding slightly sulky. He didn't like where the conversation was going.

            "Inuyasha, you heard us?" Miroku asked. "So my theory was correct…"

            "Idiot, anyone could have heard you up here, with or without better hearing," Inuyasha said in an over-confident manner. A part of him didn't want them to know how annoying and slightly unnerving it was to hear and see everything in a detail so minute that it was starting to drive him crazy. His problem was his own, and no one else's.

            "But what about all the times before? You never seemed to have heard what we were saying during those times," Kagome said, her hands on her waist, trying to appear demanding, but her eyes spoke more truth than her words. She was worried, and he didn't like making her worried.

            "I always heard you before," he said, crossing his arms customarily. He remembered how his ears pricked forward whenever he was being slightly impudent, as he was now. "I just…ignored it for the time being."

            "Sure you did," Shippou grinned, earning fist on his head. Inuyasha had hit the kid half-heartedly, but Shippou already had a large bump on his head and was on the verge of tears.

            "Waa--! Inuyasha hit me!" the fox-child wailed.

            "Inuyasha, osuwari!" Kagome said out of force of habit as she tried to comfort Shippou. Sango and Miroku sighed as Inuyasha slammed to the ground for the millionth time during their journey together. It seemed like it had always been, but as the receiver of the spell's curse, Inuyasha felt a difference that the others didn't notice. For a brief moment, he had resisted the spell, pulling against it and keeping himself upright. Every time that Kagome had said "sit" before, he had resisted, but he had never been able to pull it off. Yet, even if it was only a few seconds, he had fought against the spell. He felt like he could use this to his advantage and maybe convince Kagome and Kaede to take off this ridiculous rosary, but there was a part of him that warned him against doing such a thing.

            "What the hell was that for?!" he demanded angrily, although he already knew the answer. Shippou was such a crybaby and a spoiled brat. Alone, the kid wouldn't last a day.

            "Let's just go," Kagome sighed, starting to walk in the direction that they were walking before. She had to suppress the goosebumps that were forming on her arm as she felt a large force of youki pick itself off the ground and follow her grumbling. She knew the others felt it too, and wondered if Inuyasha knew that his youki had increased to such a level that she had trouble distinguishing his aura from that of a high-leveled youkai that they would occasionally fight. The traces of the familiar aura she was accustomed to had changed, and she was wondering a little, hoping that Inuyasha hadn't changed as well.

            Though as she looked back at his stormy expression, she could say that he hadn't changed at all. Maybe if he had changed to become a little more mature it would have been better.

            Suddenly, Inuyasha stopped and sniffed the air experimentally. The rest of the group stopped, too, waiting for his instructions. Miroku watched Inuyasha carefully, noting how he was scanning the surrounding area faster than he used to be able to, and knew that no matter what Inuyasha had said, the dog demon had changed. Miroku used to be able to sense almost as far as Inuyasha could smell, but now, he could sense nothing while Inuyasha was definitely doing something. For that, he was grateful. He didn't like to admit it out loud, but he didn't have any self-delusions about his strengths and weaknesses, and he understood that somehow, in an inexplicable way, he had grown dependent on Inuyasha. Last night's escapade had proved at least that.

            "Keep moving," Inuyasha said in a low voice. "Pretend that there's nothing wrong and keep heading in the same direction." The others looked at him questioningly, but it was a mark of great trust that they said nothing and did as they were told.

            Inuyasha walked behind the group, his ears and nose telling him that whoever was following them knew their art well. If his senses hadn't been sharpened, he probably never would have detected that fleeting presence skirting through the branches of the wood. 

            He heard the clattering of a twig in the direction opposite of the one he was hunting, and realized that the presence may be more skilled than he had originally thought. _Trying to trick me? Not on your life!_ Inuyasha thought. In one swift leap, he jumped to the place where the sound had come from, his senses on full alert. His prey had escaped. But wait… He sniffed the air again and grinned. 

            The hunt was on.

            He felt like a prey. A prey caught in the talons of a great eagle that would only be released into the chaos of death. But no… He was already dead. They had killed him so that he could die again.

            "Damn this fucking sword!" he yelled, throwing the blade into a nearby wooden pillar. There was a thud as the sword embedded itself into the wood, swinging slightly in a non-existent breeze. "It's a toothpick compared to Tessaiga. And you expect me to fight off the entire army of gods with this loser blade?"

            "Calm yourself," Fuujin said exasperatedly, though still retaining his patience. "The sword was designed so that people with your type of power would be able to use it. There's no point in abusing it like that. It's not a 'hack-and-slash' sword like Tessaiga. With this blade, you must use your patience and concentration."

            "Fuck that!" Inuyasha responded angrily, glaring at the stone before him that supposedly the sword was able to cut.

            "Please use more appropriate language!" yelled Raijin, fed up with watching the half-god hack away at the stone with no results. The kid was beginning to get on his nerves, which he had previously thought only Fuujin could do.

            "Oh yeah? Like 'shut your damn trap, you asshole'?" Inuyasha retorted, his temper flaring with his frustration.

            "Why you--! You can't say that to me! I'm your senior!" Raijin shouted back.

            "You're no one's senior if you continue acting so immature," Fuujin said, feeling another headache coming on. It seemed like his head kept hurting ever since he was instructed to teach the hanyou.

            "Shut up, Fuujin. Whose side are you on?"

            "Inuyasha, take your sword out and try again," Fuujin commanded, ignoring Raijin. "We don't have time to waste. Remember the threat that hangs over your head."

            Inuyasha grudgingly took the sword out, the cool hilt strangely comforting in his hands. Patience? When did he ever have patience? Concentration? The only thing he could concentrate on was hacking all the gods to pieces, and maybe Naraku as well, if he could ever fight him again. These gods were such fools. They just stood by, watching him hack uselessly away at a stupid rock that did not even have a crack in it, much less break in half. And that Raijin was ticking him off all the time. If only he could hack him in half…

            "Hey! Watch where you're aiming that thing!" Raijin yelled, quickly rolling away from the piercing stroke that Inuyasha's sword had dealt him. Inuyasha looked with surprise at Raijin. When and how did his sword do that?

            "So do you understand now?" Fuujin asked him, glad that there was finally a breakthrough. "All you do is concentrate, and the sword will channel your power to do your will."

            Inuyasha looked skeptically at Fuujin. He stared at that unbreakable rock again and tried to concentrate on breaking it. _Break, damn you…_ His mind conjured up images of him smashing the rock with his fist, using his claws to slice it in half, swinging Tessaiga to chop it into two… The rock still didn't break.

            He was angry. Here he was, dragged against his own will to a place that his mother supposedly had come from, that he had never seen, that was supposed to make him master some strange power that was basically foreign to him in less than a week because some self-important god wanted to conquer the heavens, and he was stuck in this hell-hole that called itself heaven because some stupid pebble refused to break no matter how many times and how hard he pounded it. Forget just the heaven's army. He felt like killing everything at this moment. Denizens of the heavens, earth, hell… Everything.

            Inuyasha felt a surge come from somewhere deep inside him, and a second later, he saw that the rock had crumbled to pieces and that the tiled floor that he had been standing on was blasted to such an extent that he was standing in the center of its crater. He half expected the rock and floor to reform, as everything else he had destroyed in heaven had, but they never did.

            "This is the power that will fell Heaven's Gate," Fuujin said almost to himself, somewhere above Inuyasha. There was a type of awe in his eyes that Raijin did not understand, but he did not say anything. He glanced at the hanyou, his skin prickling as he felt the half-god's energy fade away. As Fuujin floated back down to instruct Inuyasha on what he was to practice next, Raijin seated himself at the edge of the crater, trying to appear casual and indifferent to the destruction that the boy had just caused.

            But he was not the god of lightning and thunder for no reason. He had to admit that he was not as smart as Fuujin or as Lord Ryuten, but he did have a gift that the others did not possess. He could feel the energy of the beings around him, or, more specifically, the electrical energy that pulsed within everything that was of the three realms. By this talent, Raijin knew that whatever Inuyasha had just done was _not_ the patience and concentration that Fuujin had been preaching about. There was a lethal edge to the attack, one that was almost feral, barbaric, not trained like what Fuujin was trying to teach.

            Another brief glance to those golden orbs confirmed his suspicions. Inuyasha's outer appearance may look that of a god—dark hair, human-like ears—but his eyes told a different story. Those gold eyes were piercing like the sun, but they had none of the sun's warmth. Perhaps Raijin could not read the future, but he felt that things might not go the way that Fuujin and Lord Ryuten were planning.

            He loved it. The feeling of the hunt, of destruction. He evaded the branches and trees that were in his way, moving swiftly through the forest like a silent owl, hunting its prey. It had only been a couple minutes since Inuyasha had initially felt the unknown presence, and now he was chasing it through the woods, sometimes catching sight of it, sometimes losing the trail. But always, always, he got back on track and continued the chase, enjoying the thrill it sent through his spine that normal hunts could not provide.

            "Sankon Tetsusou!" he shouted, smashing the trees before him into splinters. He was surprised with the amount of force that had been released, but he ignored it for the time being, his mind focused on the presence that had been following them. Whatever or whoever it was was clever indeed, and Inuyasha could not help but compliment the being for evading his grasp for such a long time. Normally, when he was chasing other youkai, he would have already caught up to them, but not this time. He was glad for the challenge.

            "Shippou-chan!" Kagome screamed, as a mass of black and white feathers rushed past her, grabbing Shippou along the way. "Inuyasha!" she shouted, about to tell him what happened when Inuyasha leapt over her and landed in front of the mysterious enemy.

            "Game's over!" Inuyasha shouted suddenly, his claws elongating so fast it was like a flash. In a speed he didn't know he possessed, reached for Shippou, sending the young child into the safety of Kagome's arms.

            "All right! All right!" the blob of feathers and talons yelled, backing away from the dangerous demon. "I give up already!" Inuyasha retracted his claws, realizing that they had grown to such a length that he could have sliced them into a full-grown man's body and not have soiled his hands. He looked over at Shippou to see if he had been hurt, and noticed slight cuts in the child's skin that were quickly healing, but were evidence of Inuyasha's carelessness with his expanded powers.

            "Who, if I may ask, are you?" Miroku said, taking his customary polite position, although his eyes revealed something more dangerous. His expression didn't show it, but he was wary of this creature. When Inuyasha was chasing after it, Miroku had heard the sound of the two rushing through the forest, like two strong winds tearing up the earth and leaving only dust behind. It was fast, and there was no telling how powerful it was.

            "Can't tell you that unless I want to bring the sword down on my neck," the bird-like being answered. "To give you my name would be, in essence, like signing my death contract. It's a Tengu thing."

            "I've never heard of such a thing before," Kagome said, trying to recall anything about the Tengu she had ever heard of, and trying to get the image of that predatory look in Inuyasha's eyes out of her head. She had been impressed by Inuyasha's speed in hunting their hunter down, but the elation that was written on his face was not exactly comforting. Though now he had his usual annoyed expression on, Kagome wondered once again if Inuyasha's change in physical status might be reflective of his mind.

            "Tengu?" questioned Miroku, his previous mask replaced with another that reflected more of his true nature. He had almost forgotten what had been bothering him before Inuyasha's supposed "death." "Myouga-sama mentioned something about the Tengu the other day."

            "Myouga-jiijii?" Inuyasha asked, slightly curious, waiting for his adrenaline to fall back down. "When did you talk to him?"

            "He mentioned that a Tengu was chasing after Kagome-sama," Miroku said, waving Inuyasha's question away. He could see Inuyasha become tense with his words. "He did not say any more than that." _But I thought that he Tengu business was over since Inuyasha was… Does that mean his real target is Kagome? _Miroku glanced at Kagome, wondering what was going on. It seemed like one event after another only led to more and more questions.

            "I wouldn't call my actions 'chasing'," the Tengu said a bit too cheerfully for the situation. "I was 'searching' for her, not 'chasing'."

            "Who cares if you were 'searching' or 'chasing'! What do you want with Kagome?" Inuyasha said impatiently, and a little possessively. "And hurry up with the explanation, unless you want to see your guts on the ground."

            "Inuyasha!" Kagome chided, although she was a little glad for the protectiveness he was showing.__

            "Inuyasha, that is no way to speak to your old mentor," the Tengu said, his voice sounding old all of a sudden. The black and white feathers on him started to turn gray and looked like they were wilting on the Tengu's thin frame. Suddenly the Tengu laughed and the feathers got back their luster and filled his frame in, the previous decrepit image gone.

            "You…" Inuyasha said, appearing like he was suddenly reminded of something annoying. "I thought you'd be dead by now."

            "A Tengu lives forever!" the Tengu said joyfully. "Or, at least until he is killed or his name is found."

            "What? Mentor?" asked Shippou, confused. "Inuyasha had a mentor?"

            "I was more than a mentor," the Tengu said, bouncing on his feet. "Think of me more like his shishou. I taught him everything that he knows."

            "Quit exaggerating, you old coot. You didn't teach me anything," Inuyasha said menacingly, forcing the Tengu to back away and create some distance between the rest of the group and himself. 

            "What did you teach him?" Shippou asked, ignoring Inuyasha's previous comment and moving a bit closer to the Tengu out of curiosity. He felt a strong hand immediately pull him back and away from the strange creature, throwing him into the arms of Kagome. "What's that for?!"

            "This guy kidnaps little children for a hobby, so unless you want to leave this world now, I'd suggest you shut up and stay back there," Inuyasha snarled, his eyes focused on the unearthly being before him. Kirara immediately transformed to her larger form, forming another barrier between the Tengu and Shippou.

            "Kidnap children?" Sango asked, realizing that the bedtime stories that her father used to tell her of naughty children getting snatched by Tengu might be partially true. Her hand on Hiraikotsu tightened, ready for action. Beside her, she saw Miroku do the same.

            " 'Kidnap children'? Please don't be so vulgar," the Tengu said, seemingly affronted. "I train children."

            "After you kidnap them," Inuyasha retorted.

            "Well, if you're going to be so persistent about it, then fine, say I kidnapped children," the Tengu said, simultaneously sounding as if he were dealing with a small child and sounding childish himself. It only made Inuyasha angrier.

            "Ano… Tengu-san, would you mind telling us why you were following us?" Kagome asked politely, trying to disperse the tension that was building up. Inuyasha was about to say something rude when a look from Kagome silenced him. Instead, he looked off to the side, deciding to keep his silence…for now. Besides, he didn't really want to be sat by Kagome in front of _him_.

            "Of course!" the Tengu said brightly, sounding more like a child then someone's shishou. "Am I correct in assuming you, dear lady, are Kagome?" he asked, using his most dashing voice. The reaction he got from Inuyasha was very interesting, although the girl seemed to be unaffected.

            "If he continues on like that, he may be as bad as Miroku," Shippou said, remembering to keep his distance from the Tengu. Miroku feigned a hurt expression while Sango just rolled her eyes.

            "Let's assume I am," Kagome said, her voice neutral. "What is it that you want from us?"

            "I was instructed to deliver a message," the Tengu said, becoming business-like, his previous frivolity gone. "If you are not Kagome, then I have no business with you. But seeing as how—Miroku, I presume?" he asked, nodding at Miroku's direction. Seeing that the monk didn't deny his statement, he continued on, "Miroku mentioned someone by that name, and if I remember correctly, he called this person 'Kagome-sama', which would immediately imply that he knew this lady. Therefore, I'm going to guess that this lady is you," he said, pointing at Kagome.

            "Why me?" she asked out of genuine curiosity. _What, is "Kagome" written on my face or something?_ she wondered.

            "Because you're the only one wearing a strange kimono, and Kintaro described Kagome as wearing strange clothes, too," he stated simply.

            "Oh."

            "Who the hell is 'Kintaro' and what the fuck do you want?" Inuyasha asked, getting impatient.

            "Kintaro is the metalworker of Heaven," he said, frowning at Inuyasha's vulgar tongue. He didn't remember teaching the kid those words, but then, three hundred years since the kid ran away _was_ a pretty long time. Perhaps those types of words were common in this era now. _Looks like I've been away from the mortal world for far too long,_ he thought to himself, inwardly feeling old.

            "Who cares?" Inuyasha asked again, his violet eyes glaring at the Tengu. _Purple?! When have his eyes ever--! _thought the Tengu. Then he sensed the difference in Inuyasha, as well as observed the other changes that had come over his former pupil. _His aura is different… Definitely not human, but not exactly youkai, either. There seems to be a large part of something missing from him… _

            "He's the one who told me to deliver the message," the Tengu said, a certain bounce returning into his voice, making his words less serious. But his demeanor did not reflect his thoughts. _His aura is missing the feeling of life in it._ _So he must be dead… But this is not the appearance of a dead person. It's not exactly the feeling of a spirit, either. He feels as if his human side were completely removed from him, though…that's not entirely true, either._

            "Kintaro wants me to tell Kagome something about a change and light and dark and…hmm. Ah! That's right! Something about fire and water," the Tengu said, feigning forgetfulness in an attempt to lower their suspicion of him. _If a soul is composed of fire and water, then it could be said that water is missing from Inuyasha. _He glanced at Inuyasha again, his face showing none of the suspicions going through his mind.

            "Fire and…water?" Kagome asked, her face becoming slightly paler. "Wait, I might have something…" she mumbled, swinging her yellow pack down and sifting through its contents. "No… No… Where is—Oh, here it is!" she said, producing the small piece of paper that supposedly foretold the death of the Higurashi family. "Is this what you're talking about?" Kagome could feel the curious eyes of her friends on her, and mentally slapped herself on the head for not telling the others earlier about what she had learned from her family. _I guess with Inuyasha disappearing, reappearing, and ghosts and shattered mirrors and who knows what else, I forgot about this… _She glanced nervously at her friends' frowning expressions. _Or maybe… I didn't really want to tell them._

            She saw the Tengu take out a piece of paper from seemingly thin air and start comparing the two. Almost reluctantly, she looked at Inuyasha. She could see that he was worried, although he was trying to cover it up with a bored and irritated look. As the Tengu continued comparing the two, she looked down where her bows and arrows lay. There was a sort of shame that she was feeling, although she knew she had nothing to be shameful about. But that didn't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks, tinting it a soft rose color.

            She realized she hadn't really wanted the others to know. This was her own problem. This was _her_ family's problem, and no one really had any business meddling in it. She could deal with this difficulty on her own; she didn't need the other's help on this one—at least, not yet. She shouldn't have given the paper to the Tengu. She shouldn't have let the others know. Now they would just be worried for her, too. She hadn't wanted to add another burden to their already grief-laden journey. Everyone already had their own problems, as she was well aware. Bringing in her family's problems wouldn't help anyone at all. And Inuyasha would be sure to try to do something about it—everyone would. But she didn't really want their help. It was bad enough that she felt useless in battles most of the time. Sure, she could purify a thing or two, but when it came down to reaction speed and physical defense, she was as weak as a newborn child. She knew she was getting better at her archery, and maybe her powers were growing, but she couldn't help but feel as if she was in someone's shadow all the time.

            In the beginning, it was Kikyo's shadow. But later on, Kagome realized that she felt dwarfed by all her companions. Inuyasha had a raw type of power and an even stronger determination that allowed him to defeat opponent after opponent. Miroku had his air rip, but even without it, he was fully capable of protecting himself with his staff and wits. And Sango was the strongest girl that Kagome had ever met. Sango lived her life despite her entire family dying before her eyes, and her spiritual strength was just as strong as her physical strength. Kirara, being Sango's companion, was equally strong. Even Shippou, the youngest of the group, or at least, the youngest looking, was stronger than she was. All her friends came from a sorrow that was foreign to her, and because of their hard lives, they were stronger. And all of them could take care of themselves when things became physical, except for her. 

            Kagome didn't like being the one that the others had to rescue all the time. She didn't like relying only on her purifying arrows. Sometimes, she hated that power. It constantly reminded her of Kikyo. Perhaps, she was really Kikyo's shadow. _I guess I'll have to ask Inuyasha about that_, she thought bitterly, and became ashamed of herself for thinking that. 

            But she was only human.

            She wasn't a god. She wasn't immune to the somewhat petty emotions of humans. Sometimes she could understand why Inuyasha might want to be a full-blooded demon so badly. To be free from these paralyzing feelings…

            But she was Higurashi Kagome. She wasn't Inuyasha who was given the choice of becoming human or demon. She wasn't detached from her emotions like Kikyo. She wasn't strong like Sango, Miroku, Shippou, or even Kirara. She was just…herself. And that was both a gift and a curse.

            "It's the prophecy that Kintaro wanted to give you," the Tengu said, breaking Kagome out of her thoughts. He handed the slip of paper back to her. "The words are exactly the same. I don't suppose that you understand its contents?" he asked, the serious edge in his voice again.

            "Uh…no," Kagome said, stuffing the paper into one of her backpack's side pockets and feeling slightly stupid for knowing nothing.

            "It's all right if you don't understand it yet," the Tengu said, years of experience written in his voice. "I'm sure that the meanings of these lines will soon become apparent. All you have to do is just figure the prophecy out before the last line is complete."

            "What is this prophecy that you keep speaking of?" Miroku asked, feeling uncomfortable for not knowing the entire picture. He wished that Kagome had shown them the paper earlier, but he was sure that the matter simply had slipped her mind.

            "Oh, it just has something to do with the end of the world," the Tengu said cheerfully. There was a stunned silence.

            "WHAT?!" they all shouted at him.

            "You don't have to yell in my ear," the Tengu said good-naturedly.

            "But I thought…" Kagome started. _I thought this prophecy only referred to my family._

            "Yes?" prodded the Tengu rather indiscreetly. 

            "Kagome-chan, what did you think before?" Sango asked curiously. She had noticed that Kagome had become unusually somber while the Tengu was reading the paper, and wondered what had made her friend so gloomy. Kagome was usually a bright and cheerful girl, except when it came to matters involving Kikyo. Although Sango could understand Kagome's mood when Kikyo was mentioned, she couldn't understand why a small slip of paper could make Kagome so depressed.

            "Jii-chan gave it to me before I left," Kagome started softly. "Mama had told me that my family is dying…" She saw the others look at her with shock, and looked away, not wanting to meet their eyes. "The prophecy is supposed to tell how our family ends."

            Inuyasha frowned at Kagome, wondering when had her mother told her that information. Last time, she had said that she wouldn't tell her children about the family curse, and wanted him to do the same. What had changed that made Kagome's mother reveal to her daughter the secret she had guarded since her husband's death? _Damn it. What the hell's going on?_ He glared at the Tengu, his look suggesting that it was all somehow the creature's fault.

            "Your family name…wouldn't happen to be 'Higurashi', would it?" the Tengu asked almost cautiously. Kagome looked at him with surprise.

            "Yes, it is," she said, nonplussed. "But how did you know?"

            "Ah… It's nothing. It seemed like a fitting family name." Miroku looked at the Tengu skeptically, unconvinced. The Tengu only laughed as if it were all a joke. But in truth, he was remembering something that happened long ago, in a time period when an empress ruled the country of the rising sun.

            Heaven was cold to her that night. The clouds beneath her feet seemed to whisper of betrayal as they blew with the lonely wind, seemingly spreading her insurrection. She held her arms, hoping to warm herself up, but the cool, marble bench beneath her seemed to negate her efforts. She didn't mind, though. If she should freeze to death here, she would deserve it.

            She could not believe her own daring, even now, when she was helping Ryuten to overthrow her father. Even her youngest sister had not been so daring. Staying with her love for those few days had not been her choice initially, but eventually love had made her wish she would never leave her love's side. If her father hadn't interfered, who knew where the two lovebirds could have gone?

            Her sister's decision to love had caused an uproar at that time, she remembered. Everyone had talked about it. The youngest sister had always been her father's favorite, but even his particular favor for her could not change the fact that she had broken one of Heaven's high laws. At the time, she had felt her sister so foolish for wanting to throw everything away for the sake of a man, but now she understood that feeling. The feeling of how the other had always been an integral part of oneself, and the wonder of how one could ever have survived without knowing the other… Yes, she understood now.

            But that did not change the suffering that her sister, and now, she herself was going through. At least she could meet with Ryuten whenever she wanted, albeit in secret, but it was better than her sister's situation. That poor girl could only meet with her love once a year, and then, not even for a full day.

            She sighed, drawing her legs up to her chin, wondering why she was remembering her younger sister's deeds. Perhaps part of the reason she agreed to Ryuten's plan was for her sister, to end her sister's suffering, and to end these secret, brief meetings with Ryuten. Although she had agreed to the plan, she could still not console the side of her that was obedient, demure, passive—all that a daughter was expected to be. She had always served her father faithfully, patiently, contently, but now, she was going against all that she had once loved—against the only way of life that she had ever been taught. Perhaps the chill she felt that night was imaginary, only real to her because of her fear.

            She loved her father. He was kind, he was just, and he was faithful to all that he was responsible for. He loved his children dearly, and treasured his wife before his own life. She could remember times when he would put aside his mountain of work just to spend time with his children, laughing with them, teaching them fondly and patiently. Perhaps he never admitted in words, but he loved them with his eternal love.

            Yoko squeezed herself tighter, trying to drive away the cold that was pervading her thin garments. She loved her father, but she also loved Ryuten. He did not save her from the jaws of some evil demon, as she had so often imagined in her childhood, but he possessed a will and strength that she admired. She loved the way his emerald eyes could flash with anger like a coiled serpent, and the way that his green eyes could resemble the serene swaying of grass fields when he was calm. And when he spoke and smiled…

            But she knew that she should not love him. The son of a dragon and the daughter of the emperor. Had her father allowed Heaven to love, this match would still be unacceptable. The dragons may have been working under the sea for her father, but they never forgot that it was he who had taken the imperial power from them in the first place. Their bitterness, coupled with her father's suspicion of them would never have allowed them to stay in the same room for more than a brief greeting. No matter what, a new Heaven had to be built from the ashes of this doldrums-like existence.

            So why was it that she felt terrible still? She needed to betray her father. It would be the best for everyone. For her sister, for that famous Princess Kaguya—even for her little brother who had been banished so long ago. For their sakes, a new world had to be built. But she couldn't prevent her heart from hurting and her tears from welling up in her eyes when she thought about what Ryuten would be doing. If they failed, they would be terribly punished, but she was not the least worried about that. What she was concerned about was the future act of her betrayal, of the trust her father had for her, lost forever. How could a daughter betray her father? She didn't understand it. She couldn't understand herself. All those times that he had cared for her, the gifts he had given her from his affection, the way he protected her and dealt with her sometimes-willful ways… She would hurt him deeply if she went through with this decision.

            In all moral and virtuous aspects, her treachery was unforgivable. She had often thought of stopping Ryuten, but the memory of how her little brother had been punished always stopped her. He had been just an adolescent, his compassionate heart screaming at him to help the mortals he saw suffering. And for his wish to change Heaven to help them, his father punished him by stripping him of his godhood and transforming him into a mortal. And not just any mortal, she remembered, but a female one. A female mortal of the lowest class in society…

            The image of her young brother bravely standing there as the glow of his immortality and godhood faded away still burned in her mind sometimes, though it happened so long ago. She would never forget that bloody sunset that day as the emperor's only son was forced upon the earth as a female that would never remember the Heavens as home.

            "Why the hell are you following us?" Inuyasha asked grumpily, uneasy around his former mentor. "If the only reason you came here was to deliver a message, then I think it's time for you to get the hell out of here."

            "Now, now, don't be so rude to your shishou," the Tengu said good-naturedly.

            " 'Shishou' my ass."

            "Ne, Inuyasha, what harm is there for him to come with us?" Kagome asked, not really sensing any danger from the Tengu.

            "Besides, we would like to know exactly how and what he taught you when you were a child," Miroku joked, making Inuyasha more annoyed. _Not to mention I'd rather have him where I can see him, than have him sneaking around doing who knows what,_ Miroku thought.

            "Tengu-san, if you won't tell us your name, then what should we call you?" Sango asked practically. "It would be strange to call you 'you' all the time."

            " 'Tengu-san' works just fine," the Tengu said, his form starting to change into that of a human. The next minute, Sango found herself face to face with a Miroku look-alike.

            "Of course you could call me 'anata' if you wanted to," he joked. One look from Miroku made the Tengu return to his original form quickly.

            "Perhaps it _would_ be better to get rid of him," Miroku threatened.

            "Stop joking around," Shippou said excitedly from Kagome's shoulder. He looked at the familiar hills surrounding the village and grinned. "We're back at Kaede's!" _And Inuyasha will finally meet his okaa!_

            "What's so great about being at Kae—" 

            He stopped. He stared. There was someone on the hill. Someone that looked surprisingly like his mother.

_            It can't be…_

            But scents don't lie.

            She was sitting in Kaede's hut, sewing a piece of cloth over the hole in one of the village children's garment when she sensed the presence that she had loved and longed for. Immediately placing the needle and garment aside, she pulled the door's screen aside and stepped out, the bright midday sun temporarily blinding her. Despite that, she walked towards the presence, eventually jogging, and finally breaking into a run as her excitement overwhelmed her propriety. The elaborate kimono that she was so used to suddenly became a burden to her, slowing down her progress, and she suddenly wished that she had been able to complete her training in heaven. Then she would have been able to transform anything as she pleased, but seeing as how she could not, the only thing she could do was lift her kimono as best she could and as was appropriate.__

_            What will I say? _she wondered, for the millionth time doubting herself. _And if he hates me? Despises me for leaving him so long ago?_ She brushed those thoughts aside, concentrating on seeing him first. _It has been so long… I wonder if you will look the same age as I am now?_ And again the weight and fear of not having seen him in so long crushed her heart. _Let me at least look at you…and hold you in my arms…_

            She ascended the hill with difficulty, finally kicking off her high wooden sandals in favor of running barefoot. Her silk stockings impeded her ascension, causing her to slip on the smooth grass, and frustrating her to no end.

            Finally, she was on top, and as she looked up from her climb, she saw the one that she had missed more than her husband for the past four hundred years. _Inuyasha…_

            Mother and child stared at each other, both with shocked expressions on their faces. _Inuyasha…is still a child?_ She could not comprehend what had happened to her son. Perhaps she was still too far away to see clearly. Perhaps that was why he seemed to look so young to her, still an adolescent. She took a step closer to him, feeling the hard, sharp stones beneath her feet for the first time, and suddenly feeling out of place. What was she doing in the mortal realm? She shouldn't be here. She wasn't needed here. This was a place that had become foreign to her. She had lived all her life within the walls of luxury, and to be suddenly thrust in a world where people needed to mend clothes not because they were too expensive to replace, but because those were the only clothes that they owned was strange to her. And she knew that this was the world that she had left her son to. This was the life that he had lived, and she knew that she could never change that. Perhaps worse, she knew that she would never understand what he had gone through, despite whatever efforts she could attempt, and that revelation was the most crushing of all.

            She would never know her son.

            As she stood there, looking out of place and lost, Inuyasha walked towards her, his senses convincing him who she was. There was only one woman in the world that had her soft scent of lilies, something that not even the deceptive Muonna had been able to replicate. The woman, whatever she was, was definitely his mother. _But how? And why?_

            He was a foot away from his mother, and he had nothing to say. All the times when he had cried out for her as a child, begged for her return, wishing that she could protect him… He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't know if anything could be said.

            "Ofukuro…"

            She smiled, her eyes glowing with her tears. Lowering her head and covering her tearful smile, she started to cry. _Inuyasha. Inuyasha…_ She was afraid to look at him. Afraid for him to see the shame that she felt for failing him. _My child. My one and only child. _She looked up at him, seeing the confusion and sadness in his eyes.

            And love.

            He still loved her. Even after everything that he had been left to. For four hundred years, she had told herself that he was a strong boy, that he would be able to take care of himself and secure a place in this world. That he could find somewhere to belong. But she had been fooling herself. Even before she had died, she had worried about his future. She had wondered where one that could belong to neither humans, demons, nor gods could go. She had worried about how everyone else would treat him. And now, to see his unwavering love and faith in him when she had given him nothing to love or have faith in… She felt guilty—she _was_ guilty. For deceiving herself. For not performing the duties that were inherent in mothers.

            He was her son, but she was not his mother. She was not the mother that he deserved.

            "Haha-ue," Inuyasha tried again, quieter, unsure, almost a whisper, like a dream that would not fade from the memory, yet lingered out of the reach of consciousness. She opened her mouth to say something, but all she could do was let out a shaking sob.

            "Gomenasai. I'm sorry. Gomenasai." She covered her face, sobbing. How could she face him when she had done nothing for him? She was utterly pathetic. A goddess, and what for? So that she could watch the ones she loved die in front of her? So that she could have the knowledge of her son suffering and do nothing for him? She was a goddess with power, and yet was powerless. How could she have ever convinced herself that she could come here and try to help him, to try to make up for the four hundred years that she was absent? Why had she ever bothered to come at all if she had always had the power and choice of escaping from her prison and yet had done nothing?

            "Don't…don't cry," Inuyasha said, sounding so much like the child that she had left behind. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I made you cry."

            She shook her head, willing herself to stop. _Stop crying. Just…stop. Face him. You owe him that at least. Face him._ She wiped the tears away from her face and looked at him fully. She bit her lip, feeling her body still shaking with suppressed tears.

            "You… I see that you have grown older," she said, her voice terribly calm. The icy, cool edge that had served her so well in asserting her authority in the past only served to deepen the chasm between her son and herself. She hated how distant she sounded, like she had never cared for him. And she could tell that he thought that was what she was trying to communicate.

            "Aa," was the short reply he supplied, still unsure of where he stood with his mother. She had left him four hundred years ago for a reason that he did not know or perhaps did not understand, and now she had returned. Did that mean that she had forgiven him for whatever he had done wrong?

            "Inuyasha. My son," she said, wanting so much to hold him in her arms, but afraid to do anything.

            "Why did you leave?" Inuyasha blurted, the question that had plagued his mind whenever he thought of her finally rolling out. His mother looked surprised. _Baka! I shouldn't have said anything! Now she'll probably leave again._

            "Leave…?"

            "I saw you leave," Inuyasha said, hating himself for sounding like a desperate child. He shouldn't act so weak in front of her. He shouldn't give her the impression that her leaving had done anything to him.

            "I… I thought I—didn't I die of a disease?" she asked, remembering that Ichiro had faked her death to save her son grief. And yet, the boy knew. He had always known the truth somehow. He had always understood her, but she had never fully understood him. Even now, she could feel him withdrawing from her, hiding whatever pain he felt. Just like when he was young. When he was hurt by those who rejected him, whose cruel words penetrated his young soul, and never said a word to her, even when it was obvious that she knew.

            "Is that what happened?" Inuyasha asked in a low voice, looking off to the side. _Then I guess what I thought I saw that night was all a dream. A dream that I made up because I couldn't accept the death of my mother. _He suddenly felt a flare of anger rise within him. _But I saw her. I **saw** her turn away from me, even as I called out for her. Was that all a dream? The gashes that I had from running after her…was that all a dream, too?_

            But his mother had no reason to lie to him. If she said she had died of disease, then that must be the truth.

            "Inuyasha, I," she started again, but stopped. _I lied to you because I didn't want you to be hurt by my departure. I wanted to protect you with the only method I knew how. _"I did not die of disease. I did not die in this world."

            He looked up at her, and the amount of doubt and mistrust in his eyes shocked her.

            "I—I, no, Ichiro, no, I… My form was made to deceive everyone so that they wouldn't suspect what had really happened. And I wanted…I wanted to make sure—to protect, but I didn't know anything. I—no, perhaps I should not have deceived you, too, but I had wanted to keep you from thinking…" she started, her incoherent words failing to allow her son to understand why she had left, why she had pretended to die.

            "Kaguya-hime, I'm so happy to see you again!" Kagome barged in, trying to disperse the mood that had been created between them. "See? It looks like we found Inuyasha without that Ichiro person's help after all!"

            "Y-yes," the princess said, also reentering her shell.

            "Do you notice anything different?" Shippou said, wondering if the goddess knew what was wrong with Inuyasha.

            "Different?"

            "The eyes, Hime-sama," Miroku said politely.

            "Lavender…?" she asked, her tears no longer lingering in her eyes, allowing her to notice the differences in her son. "And your ears. They're gone?" She wondered if her memory of her son had been wrong after all these years.

            "We were hoping that you could explain," Sango said, shifting Hiraikotsu on her back so that Kirara could have a better view of Inuyasha and his mother.

            "Perhaps Ryuten has already separated him," she said, her mind unable to catch up to what they were saying. She was still thinking of the miserable introduction she had presented to her son after wanting to meet him for so long.

            "What is this you're talking about?" the Tengu asked, barging into their conversation. "I take it Inuyasha only changed recently?"

            "Who—" Kaguya started to ask, but immediately stopped. It was too impolite of a question.

            "Tengu-san, if you will," the bird-like creature bowed. "I'm Inuyasha's shishou."

            "You are _not_ my shishou," Inuyasha said angrily.

            "Tsk, tsk… So ungrateful," the Tengu shook his head.

            "Shishou?"

            "Kaguya-hime, the matter at hand is to discover what Ryuten is planning," Miroku said, trying to steer the conversation back to the point. "And what did you mean by 'separate'? I thought Ryuten killed Inuyasha to release the god side?"

            "Ryuten wants a power that exceeds his own. If…Inuyasha was not separated into two, he would not have a being that had powers superior to his own," Kaguya explained, trying to process the information that she was receiving from both the Tengu and Miroku.

            "By separated, you mean, there are two Inuyashas running around?" Sango asked, not quite sure that the situation presented to her was plausible.

            "One is bad enough," Shippou joked, earning a glare from Inuyasha.

            "So light and dark have already separated," the Tengu said suddenly. The others looked at him, confused, except for Kagome.

            "We have to put Inuyasha back together," Kagome said, determination in her eyes.

            "What am I, a piece of pottery?" Inuyasha asked grumpily, not quite understanding what was going on. "And what do you mean there's two of me? I'm me, right?" A stretching silence answered his question.

            "Don't tell me you don't notice anything different about yourself," Sango said, wrinkles of worry beginning to form at her brow. "You can feel, just like the rest of us, that your youki has increased, and with it, your youkai powers. If what Kaguya-hime says is true, then your increased demon power is sure proof that your other side must have some sort of power also."

            "Hime-sama, has Ichiro arrived yet?" Miroku asked, already thinking ahead. If they could get Ichiro to help them, then there was the chance that this strange turn of events could be reversed.

            "Iie, he has not yet arrived," she answered, shaking her head slightly.

            "Who the hell is Ichiro?" Inuyasha asked rudely, feeling angry that he didn't know what the others were talking about. He had only been gone for less than a day, yet it seemed that everyone else had passed months, even years without him, leaving him behind to wonder at the changes that had occurred. He felt exactly like he had felt when he woke up from his fifty-year imprisonment. One day, and Kikyo was dead, the Shikon no Tama in the hands of a naïve and seemingly useless girl. One day, and Kagome and the others had already become acquainted with a mother that he had sought for four hundred years without success; one day, and he was suddenly changed from a hanyou, half demon, half human, to someone who was supposedly half demon and half god? He felt like the world had slipped out from under his hands while he was in the mirror—_How did I even get into the mirror?!_

            "Well?" Inuyasha asked, while the others were looking at each other, expecting someone else to explain the events that had occurred while Inuyasha had been gone.

            "He is my friend," Kaguya began.

            "Inuyasha, there are some things that happened that I think we should explain…"

            He looked dispassionately at his hand, feeling a slight pain, almost a sense of tingling radiating from the center of his hand to his ring finger. He closed his fist tightly, hoping to eliminate the uncomfortable feeling, but when he opened his hand again, the feeling was still there. __

_            How pathetically weak the human body is…_

            He looked out of the window of his dark fortress, feeling unusual fatigue in his limbs. Fifty years… Fifty years and his body was already starting to feel old, starting to break down. It seemed that there was nothing he could do to stop himself from dying. He had the power of a full-blooded demon, but in the end, he was still a half-demon, perhaps even worse for his lifespan was shorter than that of any half-demon alive. It angered him to know that even those like Inuyasha would be able to live longer than he could. In fact, perhaps that lecherous monk would be able to escape the curse that his grandfather and father had fallen prey to.

            He glanced into the hallway as Kana slid open the door, entering quietly. The skeletons of the dead inhabitants of the castle again reminded him of his own mortality, and he cursed the part of him that was Onigumo. If only he could rid himself of that lesser part of him…then he would be able to move and live as he pleased, without the restrictions that being half-human placed on him.

            "I trust that you have found news of its whereabouts?"

            The small, pale girl nodded in silent assent. She raised her mirror slightly and showed him the location of the object that he was searching for. Out of the fog within the mirror, he began to distinguish two bulky objects that stood alone in the sea. As the fog cleared away, the two objects revealed themselves to be two small islands—large rocks, to better describe them, and he noticed that the two were connected by some sort of rope, linking them together as if in holy matrimony.

            "Go and retrieve it," he motioned Kana out of the room. She bowed her head slightly, then exited the room as quietly as she entered it. He watched her disappear from his view and began to set his second plan in motion. If Kana could not retrieve the pill of eternal life, then the creation of another one would be called for, and he no longer had any time to waste.

**Comments: **Special thanks to drk_dreams777 and TM/Inu-chan/Kat(muse) (?). Your words of encouragement really meant a lot to me and helped create this chapter. Thanks to Spectrum for your encouraging email and to my friend, Jenny, who kept recommending fanfiction to me so that I could find my inspiration.

::Ahem:: Well, on to a little miscellaneous information.

The two islands that Naraku (you did figure out it was him, right?) was talking about is known as the "husband and wife rocks" or the "wedded rocks" or "the rocks of Futami" _or _"Meiotoiwa." They are two rocks off the southeastern coast of Japan, I think, and are connected by some sort of holy rope made of rice stalks. It is said that during certain times of the year, the sun rises from between the two rocks, forming a picturesque scene that turns out to be the origin of Japan's name. In Japanese mythology, Japan was created when two gods made love to each other (the husband and the wife) and by doing so, formed the islands of Japan. Japan's name, _Nihon_, means the origin of the sun. And somewhere near the husband and wife rocks is the cave where the sun goddess, Amaterasu o-mi-kami, supposedly hid before she was lured out by the ruckus that the other gods were making. And don't forget, Japanese mythology says that the emperor of Japan is a descendent of the sun goddess, which is another reason Japan is called Nihon. Anyway, the entire region around the husband and wife rocks is pretty famous, so if you're ever in Japan, you should probably drop by Futami City. There's a shrine to the sun goddess there, too, if you're curious.

For more information, try google and the search words: japan husband wife rocks. Sushiran and Japan-zone have pretty interesting information.

Who knows when the next chapter will come out? (Hopefully it's sometime before I die.) Anyway, thanks to those of you who stuck around long enough to read this chapter. (I personally wouldn't have had the patience to wait.)


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